23andMe allows a peek at its genomics service, minus the $999 fee

February 25, 2008 | David P. Hamilton | Comments | |

23andMe — the Google-backed startup that scans your genome for disease-risk factors and other information, now lets anyone see how the service works without first charging $999 for the privilege. My first impression: It packs a tremendous amount of information into clean, uncluttered pages that are still relatively easy to understand even for newcomers to genetics.

The 23andMe service stands in particularly sharp contrast to a similar offering from deCODEme, which I reviewed unfavorably here and here. We take a closer look in this post over at VentureBeat Life Sciences.

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About the Author, David P. Hamilton

David Hamilton has been writing for VentureBeat LifeScience since April 2007. He formerly spent 14 years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in its San Francisco and Tokyo bureaus. Prior to that, he spent several years as a reporter at Science Magazine and as a reporter/researcher for the New Republic, both in Washington.

  • Do you know if the $999 fee is one-time only or do you need to pay a maintenance fee so they keep updating your account with the latest research information? If 5 years from now new research shows that I'm at risk for some disease, it would be good to know about it without being charged more. A one-time only fee for a lifetime service sounds pretty cheap though they do mention in the terms of service that you have to pay again to get tested again.
  • David P. Hamilton
    My understanding is that it's a one-time fee that covers updated genetic information (unlike Navigenics, which was planning on charging for regular updates). 23andMe, however, has said that it may charge extra for additional services, without specifying what those are. At a minimum, I'd expect greater SNP coverage and eventual full-genome sequencing to cost more.