23andMe

23andMe Research Institute is an American personal genomics and biotechnology nonprofit public benefit company based in Palo Alto, California. It provides a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers submit a saliva sample that is laboratory analysed using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping to generate reports on the customer's ancestry and genetic predispositions to health-related conditions. The company's name is derived from the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a diploid human cell. Founded in 2006, 23andMe was the first company to offer autosomal DNA testing for ancestry, an approach now used across the industry. Its saliva-based genetic testing service was named "Invention of the Year" by Time in 2008. The company had an early confrontational relationship with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its health-related tests, which were suspended in the US from late 2013 until October 2015, when the FDA began granting approvals for specific carrier status and genetic risk reports. Products including both ancestry and health-related components have been available in Canada since October 2014 and in the UK since December 2014. 23andMe went public in 2021 through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), reaching a peak market capitalisation of approximately US$6 billion. By 2024, its valuation had fallen to roughly 2% of that peak. In March 2025, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and CEO Anne Wojcicki resigned. The attorney general of California issued a consumer alert due to privacy concerns surrounding the sensitive genetic data held by the company. Following a contested bankruptcy auction, TTAM Research Institute—a nonprofit public benefit corporation founded by Wojcicki—outbid Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and acquired substantially all of 23andMe's assets for $305 million. TTAM completed the purchase on July 14, 2025, and the company continues to operate as a nonprofit under TTAM's ownership. As of February 2024, 23andMe had...