23andMe files for bankruptcy


I got my genome sequenced several years ago by Veritas. They were running a special for whole genome sequencing at 30-50x coverage for $200, and for an extra $100, I got my variant call file. Now, anytime I see a variant reported as linked to disease risk, I can check whether I have that variant. So far, I seem to have won the genetics lotto.

Veritas Genetics suspended its U.S. operations in December 2019 due to funding issues. In March 2022, Veritas was acquired by at-home health testing company LetsGetChecked.

23andMe is not genome sequencing, it uses microarrays to spot known variants. Mostly, people used to for ancestry (Veritas also included ancestry in my report). I see where the market for 23andMe genome services has shrunk to unsustainability, and they've filed for bankruptcy.

I'm a big fan of direct-to-consumer genomics, but I've never understood the business model. Looks like some CEOs didn't, either.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6143574/

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