23andMe DNA

With over 10 million customers to their name (Worldwide) they claim to be the market-leader in ancestry DNA testing.

Who Are 23andMe?

23andMe was founded in 2006 and is based in California where it employs 500 people. 23andMe is one of the largest home DNA companies in the world, boasting 10,000,000 customers. It is the recognised market leader in ancestry DNA testing. 

What Are The Products?

23andMe offer a number of reports alongside the ancestry offering. You can opt for ancestry and traits or the larger ancestry and health which we will focus on here.

The ancestry and health reports gives you all the ancestry information including ancestry reports, family finder and family tree. But you will also get an incredibly comprehensive health report. In fact you get an incredible 150+ reports. You get 10+ reports on health predispositions including type 2 diabetes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. 5+ reports on wellness including the state of your muscles, genetic weight and reaction to alcohol. Then there are 40+ reports on your carrier status which can become so important if you are planning a family. They include your carrier status on diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell. You will also get reports on ‘traits’ which includes things like the likelihood of going bald and your sense of smell.

What’s the Science Behind the Health Tests?

23andMe use genotyping a well established genetic science which looks at specific locations on your DNA and identifies variations which it then compares with those associated with various health conditions.

How Safe is your Sample?

All labs used by 23andMe are CLIA and CAP certified and they say they will never pass on any information to third parties. 23andMe are also the only consumer DNA collection company to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company now also says that it is fully compliant with GDPR so offers a high standard of privacy under European law.

What are the Timescales?

Results should be back in 3-5 weeks.

What Is the USP?

23andMe are a well established DNA consumer testing company and the huge number of customers should reassure you. Health results are easy to read and are hugely detailed with reports on predisposition to disease, carrier status, wellness and traits. 150+ reports is a large number of reports as well as all the ancestry data.

It is also good that you can opt out of some reports if you don’t want to know the results. 

This is a good test for ancestry plus such vast health data. The only criticism we are aware of is that some people don’t find it the cheapest on the market and there isn’t a health only option.