Home DNA-testing company 23andMe lays off 100 employees - Live News 247

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Videos can use content-based copyright law contains reasonable use Fair Use ( 23andMe will be minus 100.  The home DNA-testing company is laying off 100 of its employees, reportedly about 14% of its workforce.  According to CNBC, the bloodletting will primarily affect the operations team, as well as other areas, at the Silicon Valley-based company.  Declining sales and waning interests in DNA kits is believed to be the root cause of a shrinking marketplace.  The company compiles DNA data from customers who consent to the research component of its terms of service with this ancestry testing kits. CEO Anne Wojcicki said that customers might be reluctant to pay for pricey genetic tests if they fear an economic downturn, also noting that rising consumer privacy concerns could be a reason for the downturn in sales.  “This has been slow and painful for us,” she said.  The outlet reports that the 23andMe recently hired a new security chief to focus on consumer privacy, and said they plan to redirect focus from their “clinical studies arm” to their direct-to-consumer and therapeutics side of the business.  But the damage may have already been done. In December, in an internal memo, Pentagon leadership urged military personnel not to use mail-in DNA tests, warning that they create security risks, are unreliable and could negatively affect service members’ careers.  According to the New York Times, 23andMe has 10 million DNA profiles in its database and its largest competitor Ancestry.com has 15 million. Researchers have found that each of these databases is big enough to identify nearly all 300 million Americans’ DNA through their cousins. Founded in 2006, investors in 23andMe have included Google parent-company Alphabet, U.K. pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and Sequoia Capital, among others. Latest U.S. Return Home Chicago-area Naval Station Great Lakes on lockdown as authorities look for ‘gate runner’

Home DNA-testing company 23andMe lays off 100 employees - Live News 247,