23andMe Has Abandoned The Genetic Testing Tech Its Competition Is Banking On

Genetics startup 23andMe has let go of a team of scientists and a top executive as it has stopped pursuing one of the biggest technological advancements in DNA testing, BuzzFeed News has learned.

For years, genetic-testing startup 23andMe was working to develop a cutting-edge technology that could dramatically expand what its customers might learn about their DNA. While the company’s core product, a $199 “spit kit,” can tell you about your health and ancestry based on small bits of your genetic code, tests based on the new technology — called next-generation sequencing — could provide much more comprehensive information, including your potential risks for many diseases.

But 23andMe has given up on the technology for now, BuzzFeed News has learned.

Other companies are starting to sell next-generation sequencing-based tests to the public, and the FDA considers it to be the next chapter in genetic testing. But in August, 23andMe let go of its team of roughly a half-dozen scientists who were working on next-generation sequencing in a lab in Salt Lake City, Utah. Chief medical officer Jill Hagenkord, who was...