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Comment by pstuart | Hacker News Reader

I have a 23andMe test waiting to be used, but "privacy fears" have kept me from using it. Found My Fitness (Dr. Rhonda Patrick) offers tests that ostensibly help individuals shape their health strategies: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/genetics

So, Ask HN: is my paranoia unfounded? Is my DNA already catalogued and the cat is out of the bag? Fortunately I've committed no crimes of significance, so I'm not I'm not worried about being identified like that.

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I don't think it's unfounded, since once these companies have your DNA, they can keep it forever, share it, or even lose it in a data breach, and presumably over the next years/decades we will be able to make DNA information about you significantly more valuable.

In general there doesn't yet appear to be common significant gains that can be made from the DNA tests available. Sometimes you will be lucky and find you're at high risk of certain things, but the vast majority of the information won't help you much. You still need to eat and exercise well either way.

Until this changes, and we can actually do a decent job of offering personal recommendations based off of one's DNA, you're likely better off getting a lot of blood tests and working from there.

The main thing is that most of what DNA variations indicate are complex and general factors for various biological processes. In any case where a DNA variation has significant implications such as probability of disease there is a good chance that there will be other related complications and symptoms that appear early in disease progression. As with almost all disease, being careful to get good nutrition, exercise, and sleep goes a very long way. Furthermore, there have not been really any cases of people being bribed or somehow held accountable for their genetic variation. This is especially true now that most health insurance is sold without respect to preexisting conditions.

23andMe will use your DNA to develop new drugs or treatments to help the general population. If you're comfortable with that, cool, take the test. If you'd rather get paid for the gene pool you own, good luck.

That's bonus -- that kind of sharing is caring.

I think my key fear is that it gets used against me for healthcare coverage.

Not 23andMe but Ancestry.com was just bought by Blackstone [0]. I would say any privacy concerns are very valid if not invalidated by your DNA already being out there as you suggested.

[0] https://medcitynews.com/2020/08/blackstones-4-7b-acquisition...

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