Personal Genome Service - v4 Ancestory Edition  thumbnail 1
Personal Genome Service - v4 Ancestory Edition  thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Personal Genome Service - v4 Ancestory Edition

Personal Genetic Testing Kit
2014 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Initially released in 2008, the DNA kit, offers its customers access to genetic information that, according to its creator, is the beginning of a “personal genetics revolution that will transform not only how we look after ourselves, but what we mean by personal data.” Creator and CEO of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki described the kit as a “digital manifestation of you”. Users submit a spit sample and return it to the 23andMe lab based in California. Initially, 23andMe was marketed as a tool which estimates your predisposition for more than 90 health conditions. In 2013, the price of the kit was reduced from $299 to $99 due to a large funding injection, by investors Sergey Brin (Google co-founder), Yuri Milner (a Russian venture capitalise), Anne Wojcicki, (23andMe CEO), and Google Ventures. This saw its client base boosted to its client base to 500,000.

Previously, access to personal genetic information was both very expensive and difficult to obtain by everyday consumers without specialist access. Kits like this offer accessible and easily obtainable information to consumers who want to have more access to their own personal information, offering the opportunity to know early if diseases such as breast cancer or Alzheimer’s were likely to occur later on in life. 23andMe home DNA kits were awarded Time’s 2008 Invention of the Year.

The product has come under scrutiny over concerns of accuracy with the results and over questions regarding user privacy and access to data. Since receiving a warning from the Food and Drug Administration, 23andMe now only offers ancestry related genetic reports and interpreted raw genetic data. They are no longer offering health-related reports. This kit was purchased at the same time as concerns of the NHS and the selling of access to patient information to the insurance industry under the care data scheme. In the UK.

Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 7 parts.

  • Tube
  • Funnel
  • Cap
  • Bags
  • Leaflets
  • Boxes
  • Boxes
TitlePersonal Genome Service - v4 Ancestory Edition (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plastic test tube with funnel in plastic box, inside cardboard box
Brief description
Personal Genetic Testing Kit, 23andMe, 2014
Physical description
Personal Genetic Testing Kit, test tube with funnel in plastic box which sit inside a cardboard box. The inside of the cardboard box had instructions with diagrams of how to use printed on. There is a clear DNA Genotek BIO-SPECIMEN BAG, with a peel off blue liner at the top to seal. The bag has diagrams of what not to include in the bag and what to include in the bag, with an BIOHAZARD warning sign and bullet point instructions, inside the bag is a small white square of material.
Dimensions
  • Width: 15.2cm (Note: BIO-SPECIMEN BAG)
  • Length: 16.9cm (Note: BIO-SPECIMEN BAG)
  • Width: 16.9cm (Note: BOX)
  • Length: 12.5cm (Note: BOX)
  • Depth: 3.4cm (Note: BOX)
  • Length: 9.1cm (Note: Test Tube)
  • Height: 3.6cm (Note: Funnel)
  • Width: 4.5cm (Note: Funnel)
Gallery label
This objects is found in the "Data and Communication" section of Design 1900-Now gallery, opened June 2021
Understanding yourself through data
Data gathering technologies that give insight into
personal health – and how to improve it – are big
business. DNA testing kits, like the one here from
biotechnology company 23andMe, give users a
detailed genetic profile drawn from a saliva sample.
Its packaging reads ‘Welcome to you’. Other smart
gadgets enable users to monitor their lifestyles.
When worn, the Fitbit Surge tracks a user’s activity,
exercise and sleep patterns and feeds the data to
their smartphone or computer. Both products invite
a level of self-scrutiny that was not possible before
the 21st century.

Home DNA testing kit
23andMe, 2014

Manufactured for 23andMe by
DNA Genotek, USA
Plastic, paper, cardboard and
stabilising fluid
Museum no. CD.59:1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7-2014
Home DNA Testing Kit

23andMe is a home DNA profiling kit. For $99, users send away a sample of saliva and, in return, they are sent information about their genetic profile. This kit has provided profiles for over 500,000 users since its launch in 2008.
This kit offers cheaper access to information about your genetic make-up,which was historically very difficult and expensive to obtain. Originally designed to provide access to predisposed health conditions, after a warning from the Food and Drug Administration in the US over fears of accuracy and privacy, the kit can now only be used to create ancestry-related genetic reports.

Made in Canada
Manufactured for 23andMe by DNA Genotek Inc.
Plastic, paper, cardboard, stabilizing fluid
Museum Number 59 1:6-2014
Acquired: 20 March 2014
Summary
Initially released in 2008, the DNA kit, offers its customers access to genetic information that, according to its creator, is the beginning of a “personal genetics revolution that will transform not only how we look after ourselves, but what we mean by personal data.” Creator and CEO of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki described the kit as a “digital manifestation of you”. Users submit a spit sample and return it to the 23andMe lab based in California. Initially, 23andMe was marketed as a tool which estimates your predisposition for more than 90 health conditions. In 2013, the price of the kit was reduced from $299 to $99 due to a large funding injection, by investors Sergey Brin (Google co-founder), Yuri Milner (a Russian venture capitalise), Anne Wojcicki, (23andMe CEO), and Google Ventures. This saw its client base boosted to its client base to 500,000.

Previously, access to personal genetic information was both very expensive and difficult to obtain by everyday consumers without specialist access. Kits like this offer accessible and easily obtainable information to consumers who want to have more access to their own personal information, offering the opportunity to know early if diseases such as breast cancer or Alzheimer’s were likely to occur later on in life. 23andMe home DNA kits were awarded Time’s 2008 Invention of the Year.

The product has come under scrutiny over concerns of accuracy with the results and over questions regarding user privacy and access to data. Since receiving a warning from the Food and Drug Administration, 23andMe now only offers ancestry related genetic reports and interpreted raw genetic data. They are no longer offering health-related reports. This kit was purchased at the same time as concerns of the NHS and the selling of access to patient information to the insurance industry under the care data scheme. In the UK.
Collection
Accession number
CD.59:1 to 6-2014

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Record createdNovember 3, 2014
Record URL
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