DNA & You

23AndMe is doing another holiday promotion.

The good news is that their complete kit is on sale from the usual $499 price to only $99

The bad news is that it looks like they are switching to a subscription model… They want you to pay $5/month if you want to keep getting updates…

Previously, just having the “complete package” would give you free ongoing updates as new discoveries are made.

You can opt not to do it beyond the first year, but when you buy it, you’re agreeing to a year’s worth of monthly updates, so you’ll have to pay for it either way initially.

That means that the $99 discounted rate with the mandatory year’s worth of updates (at $5/month) comes out to $159.

Not as good of a deal as before, but still decent… and I’m sure it’s probably a better business model for them in the long-run.

For those of you who already use the service, like me, we’ll be grandfathered in and not have to pay for the updates. Sweet!

Also, they are making changes to allow customers of these packages to get a discounted upgrade later on once the company switches from basic geno-typing to full-sequencing. That is pretty cool, I have to admit…

The current genetic testing package includes Health & Ancestry reports.

The Health reports are interesting for learning about health risks you might not realize you have or bad genes you might be passing down to kids in the future. It covers carrier status, disease risk, and drug response information.

The second report is a bit different. It can help show you, based on genetic markers, where your ancestors likely came from. The newest feature is their “Relative Finder” service, which can help identify potential relatives. Also included are global similarity matching and a maternal/paternal lineage mapping

If you’re interested in stuff like this, it’s definitely worth checking out. At $99 (even with the extra $60 for updates), it’s definitely worth the money.


Website: https://www.23andme.com/
Promo Code (to use at checkout): 8YGK7C
Valid: 11/24 at 10am PST through 11/26 at 12am PST

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