Letters: 23andMe and Your Biodata

On an episode of The Time of MonstersJeet Heer spoke to Professor Myles W. Jackson about the ramifications of DNA databases and the concern of who “owns” this info, especially as it relates to 23andMe and its clients [“Big Pharma Wants to Own Your DNA Info,” December 21, 2022]This is a crucial subject and one that should have healthy dispute. We’ve constantly kept at 23andMe that our clients own their DNA, which screening is very first and primary an option. Those who are not comfy with DNA screening, for any factor, need to not get checked. We bring this principles of option– and openness– throughout our item and the way in which we perform company. Options provided to consumers when they choose to check include what kinds of info they ‘d like to get from our test, whether they ‘d like 23andMe to save their DNA sample (they can choose to have it disposed of), and, most importantly, how their information might or might not be utilized by 23andMe or 3rd parties. We talk openly about our research study partnerships, such as those with scholastic organizations, not-for-profit companies, and pharmaceutical business, so that clients know how their details might be utilized, if they perform in reality pick to decide in to our research study program.

At 23andMe we carry out research study to assist advance science, establish our item to return brand-new insights to consumers, and establish brand-new medications for major unmet medical requirements. So far, 23andMe research study has actually caused more than more than 200 publications, the majority of which remain in cooperation with scholastic scientists. This program is carried out pro bono for the function of publishing hereditary insights that might permit the field to advance research study in a variety of locations, consisting of the genes of cancer, Covid-19, Parkinson’s, and a lot more. We’ve likewise had the ability to broaden our origins structure to consist of locations of the world that traditionally have actually been underrepresented in genes. These consist of areas in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Research study is performed internal by 23andMe researchers, studying de-identified, aggregate info from clients who have actually granted take part under our Main Research Consent. The procedure of granting research study is different from the regards to service and is totally voluntary. Significantly, this is an opt-in procedure, implying consumers need to proactively choose to get involved and are not defaulted into involvement. Consumers have the alternative to alter this authorization at any time. Our research study is managed by a 3rd party institutional evaluation board, or IRB, to guarantee that the work is performed to the greatest ethical requirements and standards which appropriate, educated approval is performed. 23andMe will not share any client information with 3rd parties for research study functions without a consumer’s specific permission.

In addition to offering this context on our research study program, we likewise wished to offer clearness on numerous locations of the conversation that consisted of misstatements about 23andMe:

• 23andMe does not offer, or otherwise share, any client info to/with insurance provider or companies.
• 23andMe does not offer hereditary information for marketing functions.
• 3rd party partners do not straight access the 23andMe database. As kept in mind above, research study is carried out internal at 23andMe, and outcomes are then shown partners. These outcomes do not consist of any individual-level details unless consumers have actually consented individually and clearly to share that info.
• There was likewise reference of 23andMe trucks offering blood tests in Ukraine; 23andMe does not offer blood tests and does not run in Ukraine.

Our company believe in supplying individuals with access to their DNA so that they might find out and gain from the human genome. As part of this objective, stewardship of client information is of critical significance. We aim to run transparently so that we can continue to empower our clients to make educated options on if and how their information are utilized and shared. Deserving the trust of our consumers is definitely crucial to our success as a business.

Joyce Tung, PhD
Vice President, Research
23andMe
sunnyvale, calif.

Myles Jackson Replies

I wish to thank Dr. Tung for her very thoughtful letter. I genuinely do value the possibility to participate in a discussion with her. When it comes to not offering or offering details to insurer, Dr. Tung is definitely right. I ask forgiveness to 23andMe for lumping them with other direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic-testing business. I definitely have actually never ever implicated 23andMe of offering customers’ hereditary details to business without their consent. This kind of deal would be a direct infraction of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act signed into law in 2008 by then-President George W. Bush.

As I pointed out on the program, the client can pull out of the sharing of info. When I lecture on the subject, I extremely suggest to those thinking about hereditary screening to check out the regards to service. The information, naturally, are constantly aggregated and anonymized; I never ever stated anything to the contrary. In spite of the aggregation and privacy, it is still possible to determine people. A chilling post in The New York Times back in 2018 mentioned, “Already, 60 percent of Americans of Northern European descent– the main group utilizing these websites– can be recognized through databases whether they’ve signed up with one themselves,” mentioning a research study from the journal Science. Scientists state it will quickly be possible to recognize approximately 90 percent of European Americans from genealogical databases. As has actually been well recorded, in the United States a number of people have actually been apprehended for criminal offenses devoted by comparing DNA at the criminal offense scene with a relative’s hereditary series transferred by the people themselves (not the DTC genetic-testing business) with GEDmatch and MyHeritage. And there was a case where GEDMatch was hacked back in 2020. It is harder, nevertheless, to hack the bigger databanks of 23andMe and AncestryDNA.

I am interested in historic ideas of personal privacy, ownership, and ownability. In November 2017, United States Senator Chuck Schumer of New York contacted the Federal Trade Commission to examine DTC genetic-testing business over issues about personal privacy. In 2018 the FTC performed an examination, and in 2019 they provided tips to those business. According to a 2020 Customer Reports white paper, “The Federal Trade Commission can manage the marketing practices of the DTC hereditary screening business, however they are not presently utilizing their enforcement powers to safeguard the personal privacy of the info.” The report went on to suggest a policy method to safeguard the personal privacy of hereditary information. In other words, I concur with Dr. Tung that 23andMe has actually followed the requisite standards and finest practices. The concern is if the standards require to be rendered more rigid.

The conversation on marketing was not implied to be about 23andMe offering its information. Rather, I have an interest in how DTC hereditary business promote and market their products targeted at particular groups. I believe the commercials of AncestryDNA, which I particularly pointed out in the broadcast, promote themselves. Back in 2008, 23andMe promoted on its site a method to discover African American origins called “Ancestry Painting.” At other times, it has actually promoted this service particularly for Native Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans. In 1993 Congress passed the NIH Revitalization Act, which developed the standards to consist of females and individuals of color in scientific research study. The concern has to do with offering a medical voice to those who have actually been marginalized traditionally. For a dazzling analysis on that subject, see Steven Epstein’s Addition: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research (University of Chicago Press, 2007), which I quickly discussed in the interview. In an extremely genuine sense, the “white male” ought to no longer function as the special design for treatment. And I definitely discover that to be an advantage. That stated, as various sociologists and anthropologists of science and medication have actually argued, such a relocation has, in part, re-established (some argue reified) race as a biological classification in extremely troublesome methods. As numerous molecular biologists inform us, there are various methods which one can represent human variation. Race is not the only one. In spite of what lots of molecular biologists argue is a really bad proxy for human variation, race is fortunate for essential historic factors in the United States.

I thank Dr. Tung for mentioning that 23andMe’s research study is internal, which 3rd parties do not have access to their databanks. Those exclusive databanks are vital both clinically and financially. I have an interest in the methods which the customer is concurrently the item. As marketed, the $250 million cooperation in between GlaxoSmithKline and 23andMe, which was extended about a year ago for $50 million, is about the usage of hereditary series of people– once again, individual details is eliminated and the person’s approval need to be given– with a view to deal with diseases based on accuracy medication, likewise understood as customized medication. That was the point I was trying to make clear. 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki stated early in 2022 that health, not origins screening, will drive development long-lasting for the business. She included: “The origins market is something individuals can connect to and it’s considerable, however health is simply much bigger.” 23andMe is likewise participating in the telehealth market with its $400 million buyout of Lemonaid Health.

As for the story about the “trucks in Ukraine” collecting blood samples, as I pointed out on the program, that was an anecdote informed to me circa eight-to-10 years back by a previous coworker who had actually been investigating in Ukraine. 23andMe utilizes cheek swabs to gather samples of DNA. I must have validated the story with another celebration prior to I discussed it.

Once again, lots of thanks to Dr. Tung for putting in the time and taking part in this discussion.

Myles W. Jackson
princeton, n.j.