
23andMe UK - edparry
https://www.23andme.com/en-gb/
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iamben
I absolutely love the idea of this.

I just think that I'll end up in a database that, despite any promise to the
contrary now, will probably end up being used against me at some point in the
future (targeted marking / denying of health insurance / whatever else). Which
I really don't love.

And I hate to be cynical, but it strikes me that becoming the Google of
genomes is ultimately going to make far, far more cash than selling a kit that
tests for genetic problems.

Don't be evil, and all that.

~~~
Luc
No one stops you from entering a fake name. At least they didn't when I
ordered some kits a couple of years ago.

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iamben
I suppose I'd be more interested if you could buy the kit from a supermarket,
and each kit had a unique code and password you could enter online to check
for your results. So once the sample is posted, the only thing that connects
it to me (without a probably unfeasible amount of detective work) would be my
IP address. (And my DNA, obviously...)

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bjackman
Hmm... that would come off as pretty suspicious; it would make it very easy to
get away with DNA testing other people against their will.

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georgyo
The 23andme kit requires a substantial amount of spit, so it would be hard to
trick someone into giving you their DNA.

In terms of doing DNA testing behind someone's back, paternity testing is DNA
testing, and only requires a sample of the DNA. You can buy those kits at
walmart already. Search for Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit.

~~~
tobylane
This kit lets you collect material by yourself. Some other kits/companies
require a doctor/nurse signature that they did take material from someone who
matched a photo id.

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nly
A cautionary tale...

I bought an Ancestry(.com) DNA test a number of years ago. The product had the
advantage that it was integrated in to their genealogical research platform (a
subscription service). When you found a match in the database you could click
straight through to that members family tree

.... then they shut down the "old" platform entirely, gave me X days to
download my data, and told me to get lost. Visiting the site today we see "The
AncestryDNA product is not currently available for purchase outside of the
United States"

Furthermore, their "all new" tests are focused, like 23andMe, on telling you
about more gimmicky crap like your health, ethnicity, and ancient migratory
ancestry, and not helping you find distant cousins you can work with. Really
sad.

I cancelled my ~$160 annual subscription on principle after that

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ripb
Off topic but have you found any services that are good for tracing one's
lineage?

I would pay a considerable amount, probably capped at 10k, for a service that
was able to provide me with an accurate, detailed and thorough description of
my personal lineage...but I can't seem to find any services that offer it.

~~~
tobylane
I ordered from BritainsDNA for the lineage. I'm expecting the results this
month. It was 50% off in a Vouchercloud deal, £74.

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icehawk219
I've had one of these 23andMe kits sitting at home for a while now. I find the
information they can give you very interesting and I'm curious to do it. But
part of me can't overcome the fear of this data sitting around on a companies
servers forever. With me having no way of knowing what they're doing with it.
Maybe I'm just too paranoid.

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mwg66
You can opt-out of the long-term storage.

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kybernetyk
Just as you can delete emails in Gmail or delete your Facebook account ...

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post_break
Has anyone submitted something other than a human sample? I have to wonder if
anyone has submitted a bovine or dog sample as a joke.

~~~
fomb
Expensive joke

~~~
panopticon
I've seen more expensive devices smashed on YouTube as a joke.

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thebiglebrewski
If I'm in the US, is there any way to proxy into my full health results?

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jebus989
Of course, they're just calling SNPs and using published GWAS studies to
estimate disease risk. You can get your "raw genome" text file from 23andMe
and convert to e.g. VCF format for use in a bioinformatics tool like the
variant effect predictor.

Besides, really the most interesting health-related alleles are the simplest:
ApoE, BRCA1 — no complicated algo is needed to interpret those associations.

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nutmeg
Is there an easy way (or introductory guide) for someone not familiar with
bioinformatics tools?

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citricsquid
[http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Promethease](http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Promethease)

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pkrumins
The pricing doesn't make much sense. It's $99 in the US, and $195 in the UK
(125 pounds). It's cheaper to order the US version to the UK.

~~~
danpalmer
The shipping used to be $90 I think (because it's tracked there and back
international delivery).

I suspect if they want to develop the UK sales at all, they will need to
adhere to certain regulations regarding what information they give out, rather
like what the FDA does. This means treating UK customers slightly differently,
which incurs additional expense. I'm not hugely surprised.

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shaurz
I really would like to get my DNA anaylsed out of pure curiosity, but I'm also
afraid I might discover something I would have been better not knowing.

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mindcruzer
Such as?

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jebus989
Such as a 20x heightened risk of developing Alzheimer's relative to baseline
(as determined by your ApoE variant).

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mrfusion
Yikes, are you worried?

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evo_9
Has there been any update on their Health Reports being supported again?
That's the killer feature that I'm waiting for them to turn back on.

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k-mcgrady
Personally I'd be much more comfortable taking the results and doing my own
research or getting a Doctor's advice. I don't see how they can ever turn that
feature back on when the risk of people blindly following the advice (and the
chances of it being incorrect) are high enough.

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evo_9
The power to do data analysis and then inform their users of potential trouble
is, in my mind, the entire point of their service.

It doesn't have to be provided as 'advice' but rather a general statement such
as '...other members have genetic markers that indicate a propensity toward
heard disease; you share these same genetic markers and should be aware of
potential issues in this regard.

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k-mcgrady
That sounds fine with me actually.

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kybernetyk
Sadly not an alternative if you weren't too comfortable with your genetic data
being stored in the US. From the .uk privacy policy:

>By agreeing to our Privacy Statement and Terms of Service, you consent to the
storing and processing of your personal information, including sensitive
information, in the USA and countries outside of the country you live in.

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alan82
When this will be available in the rest of EU countries? Do they have to
register the service in each country separately?

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mwg66
I am in the UK and had previously purchased from the US. This morning I got an
e-mail offering me health reports (based on my previous test results). Very
nice.

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k-mcgrady
I'm interested in doing this. Can someone who has already done it give me an
idea of the kind of things I might discover which I can actually act upon?
Although it would be interesting paying £125 for a list of things that might
happen isn't very appealing unless I can work to mitigate them or use the
advice to improve my life in some way. Considering the privacy implications
the benefit needs to be pretty big.

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stevep98
[https://www.23andme.com/en-gb/health/reports/](https://www.23andme.com/en-
gb/health/reports/)

For each disease, they will tell you what the average risk of developing it
is, and then they will tell you what they think YOUR risk, based on your DNA.

For example, average woman will develop breast cancer, say 3%, but you might
be at elevated risk, say 8% because you have the BRCA1 mutation.

As far as changed behavior, for most cases you're unlikely to do much, except
perhaps go to the doctor a bit earlier to get a mammogram.

[Apologies for using female examples, if that's not your gender.]

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k-mcgrady
Definitely interesting. I just need to figure out whether the benefits of
knowing those things and paying attention to catch them early is worth the
cost of potentially constantly stressing out and over reacting.

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bhc
Full health reports have been made available again in Canada for a month now.

[http://www.23andme.ca/](http://www.23andme.ca/)

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grandalf
This ought to turn up more relatives in relative finder!

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huhtenberg
A functional way to show middle finger to FDA.

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comrade1
I'm curious, have companies like this ever been subpoenaed for their data as
part of a fishing expedition to catch a criminal or find the father of a child
for child support, etc?

To example, there's been a few examples where they found someone through
relative('s) DNA for murders in the past, but DNA was voluntarily given.

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vijayr
If one gives their DNA voluntarily (for a particular case) and they are
cleared of any wrong doing, is their DNA information still kept on file by law
enforcement?

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DanBC
England has an extensive DNA database (largest in the world) and it's hard to
get taken off it, even if you voluntarily give your DNA.
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7532856.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7532856.stm)

> Innocent people who volunteer to give a DNA sample during a police inquiry,
> for instance to help narrow a police search in a major murder investigation,
> also have their details kept on record.

Most people don't volunteer their DNA; it's taken off them when they're
arrested, and it's kept even if they're not convicted. It's even kept if
they're released without charge, although there are time limits for that after
a 2008 case.
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/7764069.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/7764069.stm)

