Last February, Mind Matters News reported that the consumer genome mapping firm 23andMe was in deep trouble and apparently, they are now filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Science writer Ed Cara updates the story at Gizmodo:

Much attention has rightly been paid to the company’s abysmal handling of its customers’ data. Starting in April 2023, hackers gained access to the personal information of nearly 7 million customers, more than half of the company’s customers (the initial breach affected 14,000 accounts, which the hackers then used to access information from many others). Though the hackers weren’t directly privy to people’s DNA records, they were able to obtain names, birth years, and family tree information.

It took five months for the company to even notice the hack, and two months before it publicly admitted to the total scale of the breach. Along the way, the company attempted to lay the blame at its customers’ feet, scolding them for recycling passwords.

“23andMe’s Meltdown Was Inevitable” —and Deserved, March 25, 2025

The company paid $30 million to settle a class action suit arising from the hack but Cara — not a sympathetic onlooker — observes that “the foundations of consumer genetics testing in general have always rested on shaky ground.”

One issue that led to conflict with government was 23andMe’s controversial attempt to use the consumer genetic data of its 15 million customers to predict health risks. The problem, Cara notes, is this:

… most people don’t really benefit from these direct-to-consumer DNA tests, largely because our hereditary factors are usually only one piece of the very big puzzle that is our health. Our genes can influence our risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes, for instance, but factors like lack of exercise or obesity have a much greater impact. And the actual lifestyle advice given to people at higher genetic risk for diabetes should be the same as what’s given to everyone at higher risk: move more and eat a healthier diet. ”Was Inevitable”

Meanwhile, whatever becomes of 23andMe, a great deal of information about a great many people has probably been saved and downloaded, legally or otherwise.

You may also wish to read: Why is 23andMe — the hot gene testing startup — now worthless? Birthed in Silicon Valley among high-tech go-getters, it should still be steaming along gangbusters, right? But traditional bedrock business realities cursed it at its birth. You will only have one genome throughout your life. You told everyone that you found out that you are descended from Genghis Khan, and after that — what?