I hate to be negative about a startup that way, but it's important to realize that "direct-to-consumer genomics" is a scam. I went to a presentation by a founder of one the competitors (there are 3-4 high-flying competitors in the business), and I had the highest expectations. But then throughout the presentation I couldn't quite figure out what the company actually does. So I asked. And the answer is marketing and litigation.
* these companies don't do any research
* they don't even own sequencing equipment
* all they do is send a sample of your spit to the lab, and send you a pretty writeup
* consider why is there no "direct-to-consumer blood tests" even though that information is far more actionable
I wouldn't even have a problem with this if it was a proper scam, like XanGo MLM, a nice nutritional supplement scheme, make-money-fast setup, etc. With these you know upfront what you are getting into. But these guys look so clean, and go out of their way to skate the narrow line next to the true medical advice. Needless to say the legal budgets must be non-trivial.
I ran this by my cousin who is in nursing school. And she goes "Oh yuh, they are teaching us how to talk to people about all the nonsense results people [in increasing numbers] will get through these outfits."
Not sure all personalized genetics companies are created equal. You seem to be pretty misinformed about what we do.
* We indeed do conduct our own research and are currently collaborating with some prominent research institutions (Parkinson's institute).
* Why do we have to own sequencing equipment to be useful and/or legit? Does Google own the webpages they index?
* We give you much more than a "pretty writeup". This includes crowd-sourced research initiatives, ancestry and health communities, and many interactive ways of analyzing your own data. A ton more things coming in the future.
* these companies don't do any research
* they don't even own sequencing equipment
* all they do is send a sample of your spit to the lab, and send you a pretty writeup
* consider why is there no "direct-to-consumer blood tests" even though that information is far more actionable
I wouldn't even have a problem with this if it was a proper scam, like XanGo MLM, a nice nutritional supplement scheme, make-money-fast setup, etc. With these you know upfront what you are getting into. But these guys look so clean, and go out of their way to skate the narrow line next to the true medical advice. Needless to say the legal budgets must be non-trivial.
I ran this by my cousin who is in nursing school. And she goes "Oh yuh, they are teaching us how to talk to people about all the nonsense results people [in increasing numbers] will get through these outfits."
Some more reading: http://microarray.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/deadline-today-fo...