Why would anybody do this? Please...give me one good reason!

All you have to do is (1) Order a saliva kit; (2) Spit in the tube provided; (3) Mail it to this company and wait for an online report on your DNA!

Sure, you may be interested in where your ancestors came from.

Sure, you may be interested in knowing if you have a propensity for developing a certain disease or condition.

But, really and truly, would YOU give your DNA to total strangers to use and store.

I read their Privacy Highlights. www.23andme.com... Sounded like consent is required to share or use your sensitive information. Then I scrolled down further to the Full Privacy Statement (lengthy) and began to wonder what would happen if 23andMe sold their company to some other entity, either foreign or domestic?

Four years ago, I started a thread about this company because of a commercial I saw. Lots of really great discussion went on in that thread, including this company's direct connection to Google. www.abovetopsecret.com...

Now, I am seeing this company's commercials all the time. Ancestry.com is also pushing commercials a lot on the DNA testing.

My questions for now are: (1) "Would you give your DNA to this company; (2) How could you KNOW for sure whether your DNA was given or sold to a third party; (3) What happens to your stored DNA should the company sell out to another entity; (4) And, lastly, do you think "they" are still looking for somebody....some special somebody with a certain type of genetic marker?

Your thoughts?

originally posted by: queenofswords

(1) "Would you give your DNA to this company"

Yes

(2) How could you KNOW for sure whether your DNA was given or sold to a third party"

You don't know for sure.

(3) What happens to your stored DNA should the company sell out to another entity"

It would go to the other entity.

(4) And, lastly, do you think "they" are still looking for somebody....some special somebody with a certain type of genetic marker?

No.



Your thoughts?

Really good point. I do think it would be cool to know, but as you said what is true today is not guaranteed tomorrow.

Extremely Sarcastic Tone:

But I am sure it is safe. I meant jeesh we have our right to privacy. After all they can't even tap our phones without a warrant and reasonable doubt. No wait that was in the alternate United States.

It would be odd to collect that sort of information and NOT make it available to researchers. With or without consent.

It's a valuable resource and a great way to capitalize on people's natural curiosity about their ancestors and where they might have come from.

I've found some interesting information just from researching where my blood type is most common. I'm not planning to do any more than that, though.

It's crossed my mind, too, that 'they' might be looking for somebody in particular. I doubt it's me, but I don't think I'll risk outing myself

A lot of people, ones who do not frequent boards such as this, are simply not paranoid at all and or they do not care if it means learning a new factoid about themselves or makes life easier. Example is my mother.

You know how those chips in credit cards are the new thing? When my mom had to get a new card with one of those she said something funny. She asked why they dont just put a chip in everybodys hand and that has your id and is how you spend your money at any place. I laughed and felt horror when she said this. I told her that is exactly where we are headed and the neferious implications.

She did not care she still wants it to be a thing asap simply for convienence. My granny would love to submit her DNA if she was told it would teach her stuff....etc.

People are silly and too trusting. They are literally going to do us in with our laziness combined with convienence. Anyways, as to why they are collecting DNA. I think they are looking for people for certain special genetic markers definitely.

To what end? I do not know. # i hope Assassins Creed crap is going down somewhere. Seriously though something like that imo.

That being said. I might do my DNA one day. Whats the harm unless you are something special? Ive already done the family tree research on one of those websites and it is interesting.

I refuse to live in paranoia

And I support science.

You wanna use my DNA for research? Go for it.

a reply to: queenofswords

I would only do this if the company agreed to destroy the sample after testing it - even then I would need some sort of guarantee that this would be the case

Thanks for the link, I'm ordering a saliva kit right after this post.

I mean how else am I supposed to know if I'm the Chosen One or not. My people could be looking for me!

We did this for my Mom. Used 23 and Me. She has Parkinson's/Dementia. This testing allowed us to know ahead of time what meds she would likely benefit from and which ones to avoid. We realized that the info could be used for nefarious reasons but the benefit was worth the risk in her case.

The genealogy part of it is really secondary to their main business, which is gathering genetic information for medical studies and pharmaceuticals. You get to pay for their supply of material by buying their kit for "genealogy" research.

I'm not generally overly paranoid, but this just has a weird feel to it for me.

Is it possible to develop a "pharmaceutical" that only targets certain people with a certain genetic marker and all others are unaffected by it? Sure it is.

Like everything else, there is the beneficial up side, then there is the scary possibilities of the darker downside.

originally posted by: Kentuckymama
We did this for my Mom. Used 23 and Me. She has Parkinson's/Dementia. This testing allowed us to know ahead of time what meds should would likely benefit from and which ones to avoid. We realized that the info could be used for nefarious reasons but the benefit was worth the risk in her case.

Sorry about your mom. Did the meds they developed specifically for her do any good?

Thanks for posting this.
In January while visiting a local Seattle Pain Clinic, I was informed that they were performing MANDATORY DNA SCREENING of ALL CLIENTS. I was very surprised by this and asked WHY? Their response was that the sole purpose of this screening was to determine whether or not there were "genetic" reasons for either changing or stopping medications based on the results of the test. I'm OK with this aspect, but was not thrilled that there was not an option to "opt-out", and asked whether or not my DNA could be used for other purposes. The doctor told me that a number of patients voiced similar concerns and assured me that there would be no knock on my door from federal agents who had discovered that my DNA had linked me to hamster abuse or other sinister crimes.

Still, once that DNA info is placed in a database, WHO KNOWS what MIGHT happen to it? What about data-breaches (hacking/theft)? Could it be sold to companies or agencies for whatever nefarious purposes they might conjure? Despite my doctor's assurances, I still felt uncomfortable with the entire idea of giving my most private information to a company I had never heard of. Pain clinics kind of have their patients by the sack, though, because most are dependent on the medications they receive. So, either comply or suffer.

a reply to: queenofswords

I laugh at those commercials all the time.

Would I give my DNA to this company? Hell, no.

I KNOW it will get added to the NSA database and they even make you pay for the service. What a freaking scam.

originally posted by: Annee
I refuse to live in paranoia

And I support science.

You wanna use my DNA for research? Go for it.

I have some land in Florida to sell you...trust me its awesome.

Seriously? The Government has already ADMITTED to testing crap on its own citizens. Corporations are corrupt and our politicians are complicit in all kinds of criminal behavior. It isn't being paranoid when it is actually happening.

Just wow.

a reply to: queenofswords

Im going to do it bc its cool.

a reply to: Metallicus

That doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered paranoid to assume they're going to use your DNA test to create a virus specifically targeting you for elimination or mutation, or whatever other paranoid thoughts some people may have. The most likely scenario, for most, if not all of the individuals who submit their DNA for testing is that nothing nefarious will happen to them, hence her "refusal to live in paranoia" and support science.

It really isn't any more ridiculous of a notion than the thoughts of people who didn't think 12/21/12 was going to mutate us all into beings of light with quartz crystal trinoculars for our 3 open eyes.

Your response was overly dramatic to the point of ridiculousness. "It isn't being paranoid when it is actually happening." - what is already happening? Using people's DNA tests from 23 & Me to harm them with genetically targeted bio-weapons? Really?

It sounds like someone is being paranoid.

I won't be submitting my DNA to them, because I simply don't feel the need or desire to know details, and because I do believe at some point, it could be used in harmful ways, such as finding an excuse to charge higher rates for life insurance. That said, I see nothing wrong with her not assuming a worst-case nefariousity scenario.

originally posted by: dogstar23
a reply to: Metallicus

That doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered paranoid to assume they're going to use your DNA test to create a virus specifically targeting you for elimination or mutation, or whatever other paranoid thoughts some people may have. The most likely scenario, for most, if not all of the individuals who submit their DNA for testing is that nothing nefarious will happen to them, hence her "refusal to live in paranoia" and support science.

Thank you.

Very nicely stated.

I'm sticking with the benefits of science.

Is it possible to locate "violent genes" in people then develop a pharmaceutical that eliminates or treats that propensity for violent behaviors. Or, worse, something that gets rid of this societal "cancer" altogether?

Two Genes Linked with Violent Crime - BBC News
www.bbc.com...

Can we breed violent criminal behaviors out of the population by targeting those with the genetic profile and treating or eliminating it altogether?

Each criminal was given a profile based on their offences, categorising them into violent or non-violent. The association between genes and previous behaviour was strongest for the 78 who fitted the "extremely violent offender" profile.
This group had committed a total of 1,154 murders, manslaughters, attempted homicides or batteries. A replication group of 114 criminals had all committed at least one murder.
These all carried a low-activity version of the MAOA gene, which previous research has dubbed the "warrior gene" because of its link to aggressive behaviour.

originally posted by: queenofswords

Can we breed violent criminal behaviors out of the population by targeting those with the genetic profile and treating or eliminating it altogether?

Can we breed a violent military to concur the world?

i wouldn't do this. the present has become the dystopian future of old and i don't intend to help it in it's progress. not that it needs my help, or my permission.