Money for nothin’ and your SNPs for free?
George points me to TruGenetics(TM), Inc., which purports to offer the first 10,000 signer-uppers their very own variomes for free, nada, zilch, zero, bupkes etc. From the Terms and Conditions:
Risks
You may not anticipate the affect [sic] of knowing some types of genetic information. As part of this process, you will have access to genetic information that may lead to an emotional response or trouble you. For instance, your [sic] may learn some unanticipated information about yourself or a family member. This may have social, legal, or economic implications that you cannot anticipate at this time. Although we will give you the opportunity to review all of your genetic information, you will also be able to chose [sic] to not review certain genetic information until you are ready. We will also offer genetic counseling services that can help you better understand the implications of the genetic information.
We all knew this day was coming. Typing 500,000 markers is cheaper than a good meal in some places.
But what’s the business model here? Is free genotyping enough to cannibalize market share from the Big Three? What happens to “customer” 10,001?
Is there really a free lunch?
I work as an Assistant Professor in the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (although this site and its content are my own).
In 2007 I became the fourth subject in Harvard geneticist George Church's Personal Genome Project. As the PGP moves forward, I am chronicling the dawn of personal genomics, that is, people obtaining their genomic information for whatever reason(s) and figuring out what to do with it. I am interested in the relevant technologies and especially the attendant privacy and other ethical/legal/social issues.
This blog may also discuss some of my non-genome interests or, to paraphrase Dwight Yoakam, "Guitars, Cadillacs, hillbilly music, etc etc."
The header image comes from the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's multimedia performance piece, "Ferocious Beauty: Genome."
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