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23andMe Has Just Been Approved for a Direct-to-Consumer Cancer Test

This illustration picture shows a saliva collection kit for DNA testing displayed in Washington DC on December 19, 2018. - Between 2015 and 2018, sales of DNA test kits boomed in the United States and allowed websites to build a critical mass of DNA profiles. The four DNA websites that offer match services -- Ancestry, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA, My Heritage -- today have so many users that it is rare for someone not to find at least one distant relative. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Genetic testing company 23andMe has just gotten FDA approval to sell a test for hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome directly to their consumers.

The test examines three genetic variants of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry that have indicated a correlation to the cancer syndrome. It's the second time that 23andMe has been approved for a cancer test based on genetic mutations, with the first being a test for the BRCA gene which can act as a litmus test for the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

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23andMe cancer FDA

This New Agreement Between 23andMe and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Is Causing Major Concern Among Privacy Advocates

The future that TED Talks have long promised is one step closer to reality, thanks to a new deal between pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and home DNA-testing kit service 23andMe.

The four-year agreement will grant GSK exclusive access to 23andMe’s database of genetic information, with the goal of developing new, targeted drugs and therapies. This isn’t the first time that 23andMe has offered its customers’ data to another organization for research, but those partnerships have previously been transparent. What does this new deal mean for genetic privacy and who will benefit from the partnership?

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23andMe big pharma genetic privacy genome research pharmaceuticals