23ANDME GOES GLOBAL IN ITS DATA-MINING EFFORTS

wired.com/story/23andme-outside-researchers/

23andMe owns more than 4 million genetic profiles from customers who’ve consented to be studied, one of the biggest genetic research resources in the US. And because most of those people fill out lots of surveys, each genetic profile comes attached to about 300 phenotypic data points—like how many cigarettes you’ve smoked during your lifetime or if anyone in your family has ever been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

And while the company has doubled in size over the last two years, growing rapidly to mine that data for scientific discoveries, the sheer volume is too much for it to tackle on its own. That’s why 23andMe has also been amping up its research collaborations with outside academics and nonprofit institutions with meetings like this one. As CEO Anne Wojicki told the lunchroom full of researchers, “I’ve always wanted to help scientists do what they genuinely love—analyzing data, not just collecting it. That’s how we really accelerate research forward.”

The company is looking for projects that will grow its business—new statistical methods to extract even more information from each customer’s genetic profile, association studies to power new consumer reports, basically, anything that will make the 23andMe products—both the spit kits and its database—more valuable.

That includes people of color, who are essential to making the company’s research and products more broadly relevant. Like almost every other genetic database in the world, 23andMe is overwhelmingly white.

23andMe is also working to develop drugs in its therapeutics division and with pharma clients,