I did. Here's the latest.
Science.org (member sign in)
23andMe data to change hands...
22 May 2025
The biotech company Regeneron will buy 23andMe, which widely popularized personalized genetic testing, in a court supervised bankruptcy sale, the firm announced this week. 23andMe files for bankruptcy in March after slashing its workforce and shuttering its drug discovery and therapeutics programs. The move stocked concerns about the privacy of the millions of users whose genetic date and other personal information the company stores. As part of the $256 million sale, Regeneron has said it would continue direct-to-consumer genetic testing services and vowed to comply with 23andMe's privacy policies. Regeneron, which has developed treatments for inflammatory conditions, eye disease, and cancer, said it would use the genetic trove for "large scale genetics research to improve the way society treats and prevents illness overall".
https://www.regeneron.com/
https://investor.regeneron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/regeneron-enters-asset-purchase-agreement-acquire-23andmer-256
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But the original founder wants it back.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/23andme-founder-aims-restart-auction-with-major-corporate-backing-2025-06-01/
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Science.org (member sign in)
23andMe bankruptcy filing leaves future of genetic data trove uncertain...
Direct-to-consumer DNA testing company struggled to profit from drug discovery efforts...
24 March 2025
A powerful database for human genetic research hangs in limbo after the DNA testing company 23andMe announced yesterday it had filed for bankruptcy. Under a court-supervised sale process, genome information from the company’s roughly 15 million users, along with associated information on their diseases and personal details ranging from handedness to education level, could change hands.
It’s not yet clear what the sale will mean for the academic and industry scientists who have collaborated with the company and relied on its data for research on human health and evolution. And some are calling for the company’s clients to safeguard their data. Last week, responding to securities filings from 23andMe indicating financial trouble, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert asking Californians to “consider” having the company delete their genetic data and destroy samples of genetic material, and instructing them on how to do so.
Founded in 2006, 23andMe pioneered direct-to-consumer genetic testing, navigating regulatory hurdles and ultimately selling its saliva-based DNA testing service to millions of customers seeking details about their ancestry, health, and potential disease risk. The company began its own in-house drug discovery efforts in 2015, and made a slew of deals with pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking access to its data.
But those efforts didn’t create the revenue the company needed to stave off financial trouble amid declining sales of its testing services. Last year the company announced it was shuttering its drug discovery arm and launched a telehealth program to prescribe glucagonlike peptide-1 weight loss drugs. It slashed 40% of its workforce and halted all therapeutic programs in November 2024.
Following yesterday’s bankruptcy announcement, 23andMe’s co-founder and longtime CEO Anne Wojcicki wrote on LinkedIn that she had resigned her role and intended to bid to purchase the company in the court-supervised sale process.
The potential sale leaves uncertain how the company’s genetic data will be shared with researchers in the future. 23andMe has long partnered with academic teams on diverse topics including the role of genetics in sexual orientation, variants driving risk of diseases such as Parkinson’s, and susceptibility to COVID-19 and Long Covid.
The bankruptcy move raises further questions about the privacy of the users whose genetic data 23andMe stores. In 2023, the company announced a data breach in which hackers accessed the account information of more than 6 million users. In yesterday’s announcement 23andMe said there would be “no changes to the way the company stores, manages, or protects customer data” during the sale process.
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22 comments:
Large scale anonymized research seems okay, but it feels creepy to have your individual blueprints and probabilities floating around out there for the government or insurance company to zero in on.
Hmmm. I would not be comfortable.
It appears the fight isn't over yet. The Reuters article says the original founder is still trying to get the company back.
I know what you mean. I haven't reached that point yet.
I think I'm glad to have done another than 23andMe. Interesting.
I did not do 23andMe, so I can read all the information with an impartial eye.
You just watch. Soon you'll be passing a dark alley when some guy in a trench coat says, "Psst...You lookin' to buy some genetic info?"
Oh, I see. I learned something. I thought 23andMe was a dating site for cougars. Silly me.
How many others are there? I guess I could ask AI.
I'm rooting for the founder to get it back.
I say, No, I can get all I want for free on the internet.
I would call that Me and 23.
I did Ancestry Dot Com and wasn't all that impressed with their 'results' and in hindsight wouldn't use something like that again. No telling what these companies will do to generate income with the Data they've collected?
I haven't knowingly done any of the genetic registry things, although gawd knows what my HMO may have done with it.
That's ALL companies in todays digital world.
It's probably to late to go off grid.
you know.... i even wonder sometimes if something as simple as blogging is just free food for AI engines..... our digital footprints are pretty big, so it's a question of scale isn't it?
Why care about our DNA information? We all go back to Adam & Eve!
Absolutely.
Did you know Eve was made from Adams rib? That makes her a transgender clone.
I did Ancestry.com hoping to learn about my fathers family or ancestors, but apparently there is no information on record.
My wife still has her ancestry account but I haven't dug into that yet. I should for the money we pay for it every six months.
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