An online biotechnology business in possession of the genetic information of 15 million customers has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell off its data and other assets. And that has led to an outcry from bioethicists, legal experts, consumer advocates, and others over the situation.
23andMe Inc. invites customers to send in saliva samples and then extracts DNA from cells in the saliva. The company analyzes the DNA using gene sequencing and then returns a report to customers. Depending on how much a customer pays, 23andMe says its reports might include information on ancestry, whether a customer’s genetics are associated with a higher likelihood of various disorders, information that can help customers live longer lives, and more.
Founded in 2006, California-based 23andMe once was a high-flying business with a market value of $6 billion in 2021. But more recently, the company has struggled, and its value has dropped dramatically. 23andMe made dozens of deals with drugmakers and other businesses to access its database for commercial purposes, but that initiative failed to generate as much revenue as expected. In December 2023, 23andMe reported a security breach that exposed the DNA data of 7 million customers, and some of its board members resigned.
On March 23, the company announced it had filed for Chapter 11 protection, a provision under federal bankruptcy law that allows a business to continue to operate while it seeks to reorganize. Subject to bankruptcy court approval, it has proposed an auction to sell off its assets, including its customers’ genetic data.
For now, 23andMe remains up and running and says its privacy policies remain in effect, but it acknowledges that a new owner might change those policies. The attorneys general of California and New York have advised customers to delete their 23andMe data before the pending sale.
To better understand the situation and the issues involved, we turned to Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, a general internal medicine professor in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine. Wynia is director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and researches ethical issues in health care.