23andMe business model?

[Sinclair]

Some thoughts on why genetic testing could be affordable, and should be even cheaper in the future.

It seems to be what economists call a two-sided market / Big data model. Any concerns on privacy?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_t..._deal_with_genentech_to_provide_data_for.html

 

[GhostGum]

I read some similar articles, since I had my 23andme testing done recently, one of the serious concerns was insurance companies getting their hands on personal data and using it to govern policies, this kind of situation seems unlikely though and could only turn into a massive public/legal issue for the company. It was also pointed out one of the original founders of 23andme came from google, the brilliant simple search engine which ended up mining all your habits and selling them off, clearly 23andme will end up following a similar model; but as long as it is not personalized and is just raw data being shared in this case who really cares. Although I say that but I actually did not sign/agree to share my data when going through the forms on the website at the time, god knows what is in all their fine print though.

 

[Snowdrop]

I haven't listened to the podcast, my husband pointed this out to me because he's heard me talk about 23andme.

Thought I'd post it here since a thread opened on the subject. Hope it's of interests.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/23andme-genetic-testing-service-raises-ethical-questions-1.2785522

 

[Valentijn]

It seems to be what economists call a two-sided market / Big data model. Any concerns on privacy?

Patients can opt to keep their data private, or to share it anonymously with whomever 23andMe is selling it to. Genetic data can't be used by employers or health insurers in the US. Life insurers aren't expressly prohibited from using it, but they'd probably run into a lot of legal and publicity problems if they started demanding it.