Ask HN: have you used 23andMe?

23andmeuser · on Aug 15, 2013

Yeah I got one. I found out I have hemachromatosis which I'm now being treated for.

I also found out I have two copies of apoe4 which sucks (11x greater risk of alzhiemers!) but I've up my exercise and coffee as a result of that.

GuiA · on Aug 15, 2013

Yep, I got it a year or so ago when they run an A/B test that allowed you to get it for the one time fee of $49.

I bought it mostly out of curiosity- and it was fun to discover the results, and show them to my parents etc.

Since then, I go back on the website maybe every 6 months or so, as they add some new stuff.

I don't regret spending $49, but I definitely wouldn't have spent any more money on it.

That being said, I'm young and healthy, so I wasn't looking for anything in it beyond the novelty aspect.

palidanx · on Aug 15, 2013

I just submitted my 23andme and was just curious if you enter information about yourself or do you keep your profile private?

fatalerrorx3 · on Aug 17, 2013

I got a 23andme kit from work and I thought the results were interesting...it said that I'm 5x higher average risk for Colo-rectal cancer, and 17x higher average risk of developing gallstones...which interestingly enough my Grandpa had Colo-rectal cancer, and my mom had gallbladder surgery (and so did 3 of her sisters)...so my results were actually very interesting

gw666 · on Aug 15, 2013

Yes, ditto what @GuiA said. The results were interesting but nothing earth shattering. I paid $100, and I feel it was worth it.

Asparagirl · on Aug 16, 2013

23andMe is good, but FamilyTreeDNA is better for purely genealogical results, as they have a bigger database for comparisons and the people you might match are more likely to have researched their backgrounds more thoroughly.