There is a ton of information hidden in your genetic raw data file. You can learn about which foods to eat, mood issues, health conditions, nutrient interactions, and much more.
But…. There are also a lot of scammy websites out there wanting access to your private genetic data. Learn how to stay safe while finding out more about yourself using your 23andMe, AncestryDNA, or other genetic raw data.
Genetic Raw Data Interpretation Resouces:
When looking at the different websites that offer reports or information on your genes, consider the following:
- Privacy and data security (read the privacy policy!!)
- What happens to your data if the company is bought out
- Sources of research easily accessible
- Cost (will they nickel and dime you for everything)
Genetic Lifehacks:
Overview: The goal of Genetic Lifehacks is simple: curate the best research studies, explain the background science, see your genes, and understand your options for optimizing for your genes. With 400+ articles that include genotype reports, you’ll find detailed information that applies to your genetic variants.
Cost: $9.99 monthly or $49.99 annual
Privacy policy: This is the only genetics site out there that doesn’t store your genetic data. The membership features work by connecting to your data on your hard drive, with the genotypes rendered browser-side. Your genetic data is not transmitted or stored on Genetic Lifehacks. There is no advertising allowed to prevent tracking. No analytics plugins watching your every move.
Where else can I upload my 23 and Me raw data?
3 Big overview reports on your genetic data:
The companies listed below will scan your genetic raw data file and provide links to numerous gene research initiatives. This procedure can help you figure out if your DNA contains anything rare or distinctive.
- Review of Codegen (www.codegen.eu):
Overview: This website also matches your 23andMe raw data file to information on Snpedia. They have comments from other users, which may be helpful if you like anecdotes or stories.
Cost: Free
Privacy policy: “1. We will never share or sell your data 2. The service is designed to be anonymous (does not request your name). The most anonymous way to use this service is to upload your raw file.”
Note: they are partnered with a company to sell you vitamins. - Review of Promethease (www.promethease.com):
Overview: This website matches your 23 and Me, AncestryDNA, or other genetic data to the information on the Snpedia.com website and the ClinVar database.
Price: $12 – $16
Privacy policy: Promethease was bought out by MyHeritage.com, and genetic user data was transferred to MyHeritage. The MyHeritage privacy policy states: “By submitting DNA samples to us and/or DNA Results to the Website, you grant us a royalty-free, world-wide license to use your DNA samples, the DNA Results and the resulting DNA Reports,…“ “The voluntary Surveys on MyHeritage (the “Surveys”) collect, preserve and analyze self-reported information related to physical and other personal traits, demography, household, lifestyle, habits, preferences, hobbies and interests, opinions, family, occupation, health, psychological and cognitive traits and other similar information (collectively, the “Survey Research Information”).” Review of Impute.me:sold to another company
Overview: This website allows you to upload your genome and run several ‘modules’ on it. Examples include modules on drug response and rare diseases. While not quite as user-friendly as other websites, Impute.me has in-depth information available on very specific topics.
7 Free resources for digging into your genetic raw data file on your own:
If you want to learn more about certain health concerns using your genetic raw data file, there are a number of free research resources available to help you get started.
- LitVar
This search engine looks up research studies relevant to specific SNPs or genes. It is convenient because it searches by both rs id and other ways researchers can reference a gene. - SNPedia (www.snpedia.com):
Overview: This is a user-edited resource (like Wikipedia) with links to research papers on specific genetic variants. If you have a specific topic in mind, SNPedia.com is a good starting point, but hasn’t been updated much since 2019.
Price: Free
Privacy policy: SNPedia was sold to MyHeritage. It is still a great resource for older links to published articles on genetic variants. - Pubmed.gov
Overview: This is the National Institutes of Health’s searchable database for medical research studies. It’s a great starting place if you know the medical terminology to search for.
Price: Free - Clue.io
Overview: From the Broad Institute, this tool allows you to input a gene name and find out which pharmaceuticals and other genes interact with that gene.
Price: Free - BioMed Explorer
Overview: New tool from Google uses their search technology to explore medical and biology research papers. Essentially, a better way to search PubMed.
Price: Free - PharmGKB
Overview: This database for clinicians and researchers to use contains information on how pharmaceutical drugs interact with genetic variants.
Price: Free - dbSNP
Overview: Database of SNP information for researchers. If you have the rs id of a SNP you are interested in learning more about, plug it in here. It will give you information on the frequency in the population and links to all published research on that SNP.
Price: Free - GWAS Catalog
Overview: This is a searchable database for results from genome-wide association studies.
Price: free. - Google Scholar
Overview: While not just for medical or genetics research, Google Scholar often gives the best results when looking for solid research studies on a topic. There is also a feature to look at similar research studies or studies that reference the article.
Price
10 Places to Buy DNA reports on specific health topics:
- Review of Found My Fitness Genetics:
Overview: Dr. Rhonda Patrick offers several different reports on genetics. Her podcasts are also excellent and very informative! In my opinion, what she offers is based on high-quality research studies.
Price: $25 for the report and $15/month for membership
Privacy policy: Read it here It does not explain what they do with your genetic data, so you may want to reach out to their customer support before uploading your data.. - Review of My Gene Food:
Overview: This website takes your genetic data from 23andMe or Ancestry.com and creates a custom diet plan for you based. They also have a section of recipes. While I may have personal reservations on this type of service due to research limitations on diet/gene interaction, the blog articles and information on the MyGeneFood website seem to be solidly researched and very informative.
Price: $99/year
Privacy policy: Their policy doesn’t specify how they use your raw genetic data file. My Gene Food’s privacy policy does state: “We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information.” - Review of The DNA Company
Overview: The DNA Company offers reports on various health topics such as cardiovascular health, sleep, and nutrition for $399 to $4,999.
Price: $399 and up
Privacy Policy: Please read it! The company’s privacy policy states that they will share your personal information, including age, address, height, waist measurement, health history, and Google Analytics search history, with a subsidiary called Youtrients. They will retain your personal information for as long as is reasonably necessary and for five years afterward. Additionally, if another corporation buys the DNA company or their assets, your personal information, including genetic and health data, will be sold as a business asset. - Review of StrateGene:
Overview: While the company is no longer doing genetic testing, they do still have their report available for purchase if you already have data. This is a color-coded report of your methylation cycle polymorphisms that is fairly comprehensive for that specific purpose. It uses 23 and Me data. Strategene is part of Seeking Health, from Dr. Ben Lynch. StrateGene recommends hiring a physician to interpret the report since the report doesn’t explain what each SNP means.
Price: $95
Privacy policy: - Review of LiveWello:
Overview: When you upload your 23 and Me data, you can see the major and minor alleles for a bunch of genetic variants (similar to browsing your raw data for free on the 23andMe website). Everyone (all users) can create different ‘reports’ to share with others. They now rely heavily on an AI chat bot for general information about gene function.
Price: $75-215/year
Privacy policy: They no longer have a privacy policy accessible on their home page. Please be sure to email them for a copy of their privacy policy and TOS before signing up. - Review of Genetic Genie:
Overview: This popular website gives you a report on your methylation cycle-related genes. A lot of the information is based on outdated work from various clinicians’ websites. Much of what is written is speculative and not backed by published research.
Price: $10 donation
Privacy policy: last updated in 2019: “We de-identify data to our best ability (files can have identifying metadata) and store your uploaded genetic information for up to 24 hours. In most cases, genetic data is deleted immediately after processing.” - Review of Xcode.Life:
Overview: Xcode life sells lots of short individual reports on traits and health topics.
Price: Individual reports, such as to find out if you have an athlete gene, are $50 and up.
Privacy policy: Their privacy policy consists of four marketing bullet points that explain nothing about how they are using your genetic data. - Review of Genomelink.io
Overview: Gives away a free report on a topic if you upload your 23andMe data to them.
Price: An initial free report and then $14/month for access to traits reports and then one report per week.
Privacy policy: Their privacy policy states that they are selling your genetic data if you opt in to any survey or research questions and to their service providers. They also use your genetic data for marketing purposes. They clearly state that your personal information and genetic data are considered a business asset that will be sold as part of any merger or sale of the business. - Sequencing.com
Overview: Sequencing.com was founded in 2013 by Dr. Brandon Colby, MD. It offers whole genome testing as well as many different third-party apps.
Price: Prices for the third-party apps vary a lot. Sequencing also now offers their own whole genome test kits and reports. Prices vary for the whole genome test – generally around $389.
Privacy: Privacy policy – be sure to read the section on AI chat integration and your data being used on ChatGPT
Which DNA test kit is best?
If you have decided to test your DNA, you may be overwhelmed by all of the choices available today. Check out our comprehensive guide comparing DNA testing companies.
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