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23andMe biz model in a nutshell:

- you give us your DNA (spit) and consent to do whatever we goddamn like with your DNA - we give you some dozen of mostly uninteresting genetic marker worth of analysis (wet earwax anyone?)

With genetic filtered pharma studies in the vicinity, 23andMe sits on a goldmine.

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As someone who works in pre-clinical pharma research, thank god someone is doing this. Projects get killed because they would lead to a drug that would require very expensive clinical trials. Often, this is because the patient population is hard to identify before they get very sick.

Also, I think 23andMe should be very clear that this is what they do, but it isn't inherently problematic. People shouldn't ever be surprised by getting asked to be in a clinical trial based on their information stored at 23andMe.

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