Bonus #Joke :
Q: What do you get when you inject human DNA into a goat?

A: Banned from the petting zoo.

(It's #HootinTootinTuesday again! Post some jokes or funny memes under this hashtag today, and bring lots of smiles to #Mastodon.)

How to delete your 23andMe data and why you should do it now

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-delete-your-23andme-data-and-why-you-should-do-it-now/ #23andMe #Privacy #DataPrivacy #Tech #Security #GeneticTesting

Whew, genetic information testing, what could possibly go wrong I always thought? I'm glad I never did it.

But if you have been tested by 23andMe, you may want to request that your data be deleted & your sample, if stored, be destroyed.

The company is on the verge of going belly up!

Details on how to do it & your rights from CA Attorney General Rob Bonta at this link >>> https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers

HT: @heidilifeldman for the heads up & link.

Genetic testing has always interested me, but I've never actually gone ahead and done it.

I was just reading an article which claimed that the predominant reaction from people who *have* done it was "meh".

If you've done it, what was your reaction when you saw your results?

This should be bigger news.

23andMe stock is less than $1. They have until Nov 4th to get it above $1 or be delisted. The entire board has quit.

Wojcicki should appeal to 23andMe customers to keep it from being sold. Sale = privacy policies vanish. We are must impacted.

#society #privacy #genetics
#genetictesting #health

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/09/23andme-dna-data-privacy-sale/680057/

Also, 2023 #DataBreach
https://www.eladelantado.com/us/23andme-settlement/

Life insurer #MassMutual is rolling out free genetic testing for members

But a genetic expert said it's a "head-scratcher" why MassMutual chose to screen for common conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes; why not ALS and early-onset Alzheimer's?

via @STAT
https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/09/massmutual-genetic-testing-rollout-life-insurance/

GSK Plc will pay #23andMe Holding Co. $20M for #GeneticTesting company’s vast #trove of #consumer #DNAData, extending a 5 yr collaboration that’s allowed the #drugmaker to mine #geneticdata as it researches new #medications. Under the new agreement, 23andMe will provide GSK with one year of access to anonymized #DNA data from the approximately 80% of gene-testing customers who have agreed to share their information for research. Really? #privacy #medicine #healthcare https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-30/23andme-will-give-gsk-access-to-consumer-dna-data

I really want a definitive answer on a nagging doubt I've had since childhood, but with #Ancestry being owned by a #HedgeFund, and cases like this (not to mention #insurance company #data collecting), it seems I'll never feel safe finding out for sure unless I can one day afford private #GeneticTesting.

I don't have a #WashingtonPost subscription and can't provide a gift link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/06/23andme-hacked-data/

https://apple.news/AT7k8o5KlS-mok5rgXJAzzQ

Whelp. My #pancreatitis #GeneticTesting 3-gene panel

https://www.labcorp.com/tests/252794/pancreatitis-three-gene-profile-i-prss1-spink1-cftr-i-full-gene-sequencing

is completed and "the results have been faxed to the requesting physician." Weird. Normally I see the results immediately. And annoying, because it's now been five days since I've known that the tests are done, but I still don't have the damn results!

I've called the ordering office and asked for them, but been told that the ordering physician has to disclose the results. Which is weird, because they haven't had to before. So I called and tried to reach that physician today. No dice. I was told by staff that they "didn't know how to interpret these results" and that they'd have the ordering physician call me back. The ordering physician did not, in fact, call me back.

So now I'm going to be scheduling an appointment to talk about the results, because apparently just giving me my own damned data about my own damned body is a bridge too far.

And now I've been reading this paper

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4246502/

And finding that this paragraph hits really fucking close to home for me:

>The greatest issue is that most physicians are not – and *cannot* be – adequately trained to interpret complex genetic data sets during a busy clinical session, especially when complex clinical and environmental factors contribute to variable risk and outcomes. With increasing focus on patient turnover and productivity, there is just not enough time to stay up to date on all of the important genetic factors and nuances of interpretation. However, there must be someone able to evaluate genetic data within the context of a clinical question or problem and to communicate the appropriate information in understandable terms to the healthcare provider and/or patient.

"However, there must be someone."

Spoiler alert, authors: there isn't someone. And there won't be someone so long as healthcare is a business subservient to the profit motive.