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Falling prices and unfair competition in consumer genomics

Nature Biotechnology volume 31, pages 785–786 (2013)Cite this article

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To the Editor:

In the November issue, Malorye Allison's News Feature (Nat. Biotechnol. 30, 1027–1029, 2012) described the changing face of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics industry. As founder and CEO of a DTC genomics company myself and an avid proponent of DTC, I was disturbed by 23andMe's (Mountain View, CA, USA) announcement last year to cut the price of its genetic testing down to $99—a move I regard as stifling competition in what remains a small and nascent sector. Indeed, I contend that Illumina (San Diego) and 23andMe have colluded to kill the remaining competition in DTC testing. This pricing war spans the globe and involves major genetic superpowers in the United States, Iceland and China.

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Acknowledgements

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Geneyouin company

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  1. Geneyouin Inc., Maple, Ontario, Canada

    Ruslan Dorfman

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Correspondence to Ruslan Dorfman.

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R.D. is founder and CEO of Geneyouin, which is a direct-to-consumer provider of genetic testing and consulting services.

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Dorfman, R. Falling prices and unfair competition in consumer genomics. Nat Biotechnol 31, 785–786 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2693

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