“Let me ask my DNA” – when genes become our health advisor, family album and shopping buddy

If you were offered a prediction of how likely you are to develop a chronic disease throughout your life – would you want to know?

For Amanda Barrett, the answer was “yes.” Given some concerning traits in her family history, the 33-year-old mother from Smyrna, Tennessee, wanted to find out which genes she had potentially inherited and passed on. She turned to 23andMe, the Sunnyvale, California-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing platform, which in July 2021 first told her that she maintains a notable risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Barrett didn’t wait long before making adjustments to her day-to-day routine based on the suggestions she’d received. “I have added things to my diet and make sure to get plenty of sleep as well as play brain games to keep my mind fresh,” Barrett says.

She’s just one in 66 million in the U.S., alone. In 2021, that number – or one in five Americans – had ordered a DTC genetic test, up 450% from the 12 million who did so in 2018, according to a Consumer Reports survey. The global consumer genomics market is expected to grow by an annual 19.4% until 2028, a report by market research company Grand View Research showed, as offerings expand to include not only evaluating disease risk and tracking back ancestors, but dietary and other lifestyle suggestions.

For startups in the genomics testing industry, along with well-established players like 23andMe, that growth presents tantalizing opportunities – particularly as investors see the traction as a sign of more to come.

“We’re seeing a greater demand for personalized products in general – and there is nothing more personalized than someone’s DNA,” says Ahmed El-Sohemy, a professor and Canada Research Chair in nutrigenomics at the University of Toronto. “This awareness has been a major driver of the growth of consumer genetic testing services,” he says.

After 15 years in existence, consumer genomics pioneer 23andMe raised $250 million and went public in June of last year, catapulting the consumer genomics giant to a $3.5 billion valuation, while San Francisco-based Freenome secured a record $300 million in fresh funding in December.

The pandemic-fueled surge in health tech investment has increased access to DNA-testing services and tools, which have become available at record-low prices of $79 (down from 23andMe’s initial $999 in 2007). Consumers can now purchase at-home DNA testing kits, take a saliva sample, send it back to the provider, and view their results through online reports or mobile applications a few weeks later. 

While 23andMe and Tokyo-founded GenomeLink had historically focused on disease diagnostic testing and ancestry tracking, the companies recently expanded their features to include dietary and exercise recommendations to keep up with consumers’ rising expectations. Users of the platforms can now find out the maximum number of cups of coffee they should have a day, or which type of workout their body is naturally best suited for. 

Still other startups are taking body hacking to the next level. Mallorca, Spain-based genomics newbie ADNTRO provides its users with suggested sleep schedules and hydration levels based on their DNA to help them age better. The startup is currently investing in the “behavioral genetics” feature of its platform, which aims to take a deep-dive into users’ “genetic personality” and reveal which of their personality traits are rooted in their genes.

Meanwhile, DnaNudge is out to become consumers’ 24/7 shopping assistant. The London, UK-based company secured its first major funding of $60 million in August 2021, accelerating the roll-out of its niche skin care recommendation feature. Genetic sample results are uploaded to a digital “DNA bean” on a bracelet, with which consumers can scan products’ bar codes. The bean will light up in green or red, indicating whether the given product is a good or poor choice given the genetic make-up of their skin, and nudging consumers towards smarter decisions as they shop. 

But not everybody loves the idea of DNA testing becoming a readily available and easily accessible feature in consumers’ everyday life. Functional genomic nutrition specialist Jaclyn Downs sees a clear motive behind the recent price decrease of at-home testing kits. “These larger companies are making their kits less expensive, because they can gather more data that way – data to sell to pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and maybe eventually for marketing purposes, not unlike Google,” Down says.

In the light of consumers’ generally growing demand for customization and the shift towards personalized medicine, however, consumer genomics’ explosive growth can be seen as part of a larger trend – a trend El-Sohemy believes is here to stay.

“There’s no way that we’ll go back to generic, population-based, ‘one-size-fits-all’ recommendations,” the nutrigenomics professor says. “The genie is out of the bottle.”

And consumers like Barrett are in for the long haul. “I always check on the latest updates when they add new features or data,” says Barrett of 23andMe. “It’s interesting to see all this new information they can show you about your genes.”