23andMe and others gain by building family trees out of DNA

Almost a year ago, the Food and Drug Administration ordered 23andMe, the genetics-testing startup, to stop giving customers information about their health risks.

Since then, the Mountain View company has been able to continue selling only its other product: information about customers ancestral origins. But the setback, though significant, was far from fatal. Genetic genealogy is quickly becoming a lucrative market of its own.

As DNA tests from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA and other companies have become more affordable and comprehensive, millions of people are filling in their family trees to an extent that was not possible a decade ago. And no longer is the pastime just for Civil War enthusiasts and that one uncle, observers say. The worldwide $2.3 billion market for genealogy products and services will reach $4.3 billion by 2018, according to the market research firm Global Industry Analysts.

Its reached a critical mass, said Blaine Bettinger, an intellectual property attorney and scientist by training who blogs at the Genetic Genealogist. Theres always been many, many genealogists, but not as many of them were embracing DNA. However, once more and more people started testing, the real power of DNA became apparent.

The FDA may worry about the accuracy of 23andMes health test results, but genealogy presents its own ethical and logistical dilemmas. Last month, the news outlet Vox published the account of a 23andMe customer who unintentionally discovered on the site that his father, before marrying, had given up a son for adoption. The customer reported that his parents had divorced as a result, and the story prompted 23andMe to change some policies regarding how customers share information.

Genetic-testing companies will inevitably navigate more of these delicate situations as they seek to dominate the market. Founded in 2006, the privately held 23andMe has a reported $126 million from Google Ventures and other investors. In 2012, the family-history website Ancestry.com started selling DNA tests and was bought by a European equity firm for $1.6 billion. Family Tree DNA recently said it has processed more than 1 million tests since 2000.

These companies do not seem to be directly competing, at least not yet, because the influx of customers is so enormous, Bettinger said. But the bigger a companys database, the greater a users chances of tracking down a fifth cousin or distant aunt and then urging other relatives to join.

The best way to stay ahead of the curve, Bettinger said, is to come up with effective tools that can analyze genetics and research relatives near and distant, dead and alive. The raw data is the raw data, he said. Its really about how you interpret it.

Tracing the saliva

A saliva sample submitted to 23andMe can be traced to about 30 regions around the world. The companys $99 test cant distinguish between, say, a Frenchman and a Spaniard, but it can reveal the geographic origins of distant ancestors, based on where the customers gene markers appear most in modern populations. 23andMe claims to have the largest database of autosomal DNA: not just an individuals maternal or paternal line of DNA, but both sides of the family.

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23andMe and others gain by building family trees out of DNA