Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

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

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.

The future that TED Talkshavelongpromised 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?


To privacy advocates,there’s little more alarming than the sale of genetic information. The data could be used by insurance companies to identify certain genetic markers as high-risk, leading to increased premiumseven decades after the test is performed. Law enforcement could subpoena the data from 23andMe (or any other genetic testing company) without informing the customers and without their consent. Thelaw surrounding questions of genetic privacy and ownership are in their infancy. And no genetic testing company canensure that your genetic information remains private.

But in this case, the most serious issue seems to be profit. 23andMe’s estimated 5 million customers can choose to opt out of having their DNA used in research. Those who don’t opt out have essentially donated their genome to science. But that munificence is one-sided: whatever drugs or treatments are developed using the customers’ genetic information will be sold by GSK or 23andMe for profit.

And there’s certainly profit to be made. Separate from this deal, GSK has invested $300 million in 23andMe. It’s a relative bargain for GSK, because 23andMe’s database is up to 10 times larger than other available databases, and its customers have already paid for partial sequencing — typically a major expense.

For its part, GSK is confident that the partnership will produce effective treatments, which will benefit patients across the world. To begin, they’re focusing on treatments for Parkinson’s disease based on a gene called LRRK2 that is mutated in some Parkinson’s patients.

“When you get a genetically validated target and you pursue it, it’s twice as likely to end up being a medicine,” said GSK chief science officer Hal Barron.

Previously, 23andMe had been carrying out some genetic research itself, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  and University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California.In those cases, customers could see a clear benefit in allowing research to be carried out on their genome. Just by allowing the company to use the material that the customer had already given, they felt like part of a larger solution.

“It’s one thing for NIH to ask people to donate their genome sequences for the higher good,” Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told NBC News. “But when two for-profit companies enter into an agreement where the jewel in the crown is your gene sequence and you are actually paying for the privilege of participating, I think that’s upside-down.”

More from News

Lynda Carter; Screenshot of Donald Trump
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images; Newsmax

Lynda Carter Hilariously Channels Wonder Woman In Response To Trump's Claim About 'Undetectable' Planes

After President Donald Trump touted the U.S. military's "stealth" planes that he described as "undetectable," Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter responded to his claim with a funny quip sure to delight fans of her iconic character.

Earlier, Trump boasted about the military's capabilities in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office amid heightened concerns about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict that is sending shockwaves throughout the Middle East and around the world:

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson And Ted Cruz Get Into Shouting Match Over Iran In Bonkers Interview Clip

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz—a harsh Donald Trump critic-turned-MAGA minion—sat down with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for the conservative influencer's self-produced online content,The Tucker Carlson Show, for the Tucker Carlson Network.

On Tuesday, Carlson shared a 1.5-minute clip revealing that things got contentious when the pair touched on the Trump administration's escalating tensions with Iran.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Barack Obama
Suzanne Plunkett-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Resurfaced Trump Tweet Criticizing Obama Over Iran Comes Back To Bite Him

Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump was criticized for hypocrisy after social media users resurfaced a 2013 tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of planning an attack on Iran because of his "inability to negotiate properly."

Trump has declined to clarify whether the U.S. is edging closer to launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a warning from Iran’s supreme leader against any attack and a rejection of Trump’s demand for surrender.

Keep ReadingShow less
​​Elon Musk
Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images

Anti-Elon Banner at Stanford

Stanford University graduates were given creative advice from above as an airplane flew over the graduation ceremony with a banner reading, “CONGRATS! DON’T WORK FOR ELON.”

The moment was captured last Sunday during the university’s 134th Commencement ceremony, where the Class of 2025 received their degrees at Stanford Stadium.

Keep ReadingShow less