In July, Helix, the consumer genomics spin out from Illumina, launched an online personal genomics apps store for “discovering your DNA.” For merely $80, customers can have their genome sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) via a product called Exome+, which sequences 22,000 protein coding genes plus hundreds of thousands of non-coding sites that Helix researchers deem potentially interesting. Once the sequencing is done, customers can choose from an array of apps provided by Helix partners, which cover everything from disease risk to wine preference. According to Justin Kao, co-founder and senior vice president of Helix, the company aims to bring NGS to the masses. “We believe that it should be available to millions of people and we don't want cost to be a barrier,” he says.

An app store for genomes: Helix will store people's DNA sequences, which they can then access by paying for different apps. Credit: Supparsorn Wantarnagon/Alamy Stock Photo

Helix was founded in 2015 with $100-million from Illumina and other investors, and with Illumina's Executive Chairman and former CEO Jay Flately as the board's chair. In the intervening years, the San Carlos-based firm set up a lab with a state-of-the-art NGS platform, with College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation and a certificate under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). In addition, it amassed a scientific advisory board with leading human geneticists and bioinformatics experts, as well as a staff of over 150. To its customers, Helix offers a selection of apps in six areas (ancestry, entertainment, family, fitness, health and nutrition) with the health and fitness segments offering the richest selection of options. For its partners, Helix collects and processes samples, provides secure data storage and clinical compliance, and serves up an e-commerce platform.

The price is surprisingly low for NGS. Helix can set it low partly through scale—it has high volume sequencing capabilities—partly through its partnership with Illumina, and through revenue sharing with the app providers. “Our model is not to be reselling data. Our model is to bring people back over and over again into the marketplace,” says Kao.

Helix may not be reselling data, but it's not releasing the information either. At the moment, Helix provides its partners only with windows of information to fulfill their offerings and holds on to the rest. This could change by year's end as the company is working out the logistics and cost for releasing the data. “If you stay on the Helix platform, we'll keep the costs down,” says Kao. However, Helix doesn't control what its partners do; each app company works directly with customers, and can release data if they choose.

Others are vying for the genomics app market, too. 23andMe, the flagship consumer genetics company located in Mountain View, California, has relationships with different apps and information providers, and also upon request will hand over the raw data to their customers. Likewise, GenCove, a spin out of the NY Genome Center, has launched a genotyping service. For only $59.99 it will conduct low-coverage sequencing, which according to founder Joe Pickrell, reduces the cost some 100-fold. The company was founded to facilitate genome information sharing; by providing a platform for researchers to work with genotypes, as well as for individuals to probe their own genome for information on their ancestry and microbiome, two of the most popular items on direct-to-consumer lists. The company will release the raw data to customers who request it.

Another direct-to-consumer platform under development is from Portable Genomics. The San Diego-based company wants to enable individuals to store all their health-related data, including genome data, on a mobile device. Founded by French biologist, Patrick Merel, the idea is to put people in control of their data to turn each person into their own portable data silo (hence the name). Currently working with foundations and patient groups, Merel had to leave his native France to form his company. In France, it is illegal to access genome information, other than for medical or research purposes, and to do so without going through a physician. Offences are punishable by €15,000 ($17,600) and a year in jail. “You know, France liberté égalité fraternité. B***t!” says Merel.

With Helix, there's more to come. It has partnerships in the works with 10-15 entities, including healthcare providers Mayo Clinic and Geisinger Health and other boutique apps like WellnessFx and Intelliseq. Some of the apps can appear frivolous—you can order a personalized scarf incorporating genomic information through the Dot One app, for instance—particularly when matched up with the likes of disease-carrier screening app, CarrierCheck, from Sema4, the company spun out of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and led by Eric Schadt. But Kao says they carefully vet every product they offer. “The way our partners innovate and create products that consumers can explore, be delighted by and even have some fun with, that's really up to the partner and the customer to decide if there's personal value there for themselves.”