As 23andMe Struggles, Concerns Surface About Its Genetic Data
A plummet in the company’s valuation and a recent board resignation have raised questions about the future of genetic data collected from millions of customers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/05/business/23andme-dna-bankrupt.html?smid=em-share
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“People don’t, I think, appreciate how large the genetic information for a person is,” Mark Gerstein, a professor of biomedical informatics at Yale University, said on Saturday.
“In theory, if there’s a mess-up with your credit card or Social Security number, you get a new one, it can be fixed,” Professor Gerstein said. “But there’s absolutely no way to get a new genome.” …
Looking at a genome can reveal a complicated structure, akin to ones and zeros of binary code, Professor Gerstein said. That might make it seem like the information is harder to glean than from a personal tech device.
“Superficially, there might be a comforting aspect to that, as opposed to if I peek in your email box,” he said. However complex the genome is, though, it can still hold sensitive private data.
“In the longer term, maybe it actually is more revealing,” he said. “}}
