Are You Databased? Of Course 23andMe’s Plan Has Been to Sell Your Genetic Data All Along

Is anyone really surprised by this? The CIA has probably had all of it all along, not to mention whatever else the NSA is storing and analyzing out there in that $3 billion spy hub in the Utah desert…

Via Gizmodo:

Today, 23andMe announced what Forbes reports is only the first of ten deals with big biotech companies: Genentech will pay up to $60 million for access to 23andMe’s data to study Parkinson’s. You think 23andMe was about selling fun DNA spit tests for $99 a pop? Nope, it’s been about selling your data all along.

Since 23andMe started in 2006, it’s convinced 800,000 customers to hand over their DNA, one vial of spit at a time. Personal DNA reports are the consumer-facing side of the business, and that’s the one we’re most familiar with. It all seems friendly and fun with a candy-colored logo and quirky reports that include the genetic variant for asparagus pee.

But 23andMe wasn’t going to find a big business by selling spit kits at the cut rate of $99. Instead, it’s always been about enticing customers to hand over their DNA sequences along with details of their lives in a questionnaire to build a giant database—one that academic researchers and biotech companies alike are, well, salivating over.