23andMe’s future prompts more worries, as genomic data analysis improves

Customers of genetic data outfit 23andMe may be at greater risk than they realize, suggests a New York Times story that argues the company’s woes could be short-lived compared to the possible danger facing those roughly 15 million people if 23andMe can’t continue as a going concern.

Certainly, with each passing day, the hope of founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki to take 23andMe private again seems further out of reach. The company, valued at $6 billion when it went public in 2021, is now valued at $150 million. It’s poised to be delisted next month. Press stories aren’t helping. (Would you buy a kit?)

The company says it remains committed to “follow laws that regulate the data we collect,” but if at some point it can’t, that’s worrisome, says a Yale biomedical professor who notes to the Times that hacked credit cards can be replaced; a genome cannot. Meanwhile, he says, the tech that analyzes genomes is advancing. Chances are it will become more revealing, too.