I don’t know what the future holds for 23andMe, but the financial floodwaters are rising. I’ve been torn about whether I should risk alarming people, perhaps unnecessarily, by writing about this, and if so, exactly what to say.
I’ve decided that the responsible action is to share my concerns with you and suggest that you act proactively – just in case.
Contrary to linking within this article which is what I normally do, I’m placing a list of relevant articles about what’s happening at 23andMe at the end for your reference. There are quite a few. I’ve located reputable articles without paywalls. There are even more publications today.
What’s Going On?
If you’re following the saga of 23andMe, you’ll know that they have been in financial trouble for some time, worsened by their data breach in October 2023. Not only was customer information accessed and downloaded, but 23andMe reacted extremely slowly, which made the situation worse. Lawsuits followed. I’ve written about the deteriorating situation several times.
Their financial situation has continued its decline ever since.
Recent developments, including the inability of Anne Wojcicki to raise funding to take the company private again, the $30 million data breach settlement this week, a further drop in their stock price, and just yesterday, the resignation of the board of directors in its entirety (except for Wojcicki), makes their future increasingly uncertain if not outright bleak.
Concerns
I am very concerned about the future of 23andMe. Never having experienced anything like this in our industry, I have no prediction about exactly what will happen, or when. That’s unknowable. I do know that I’m quite worried as are other professionals in this field.
I am strongly considering deleting my 23andme accounts. My personal hesitation is that I author this blog and I can’t write about 23andMe if I don’t have an account there.
Were it not for that, I would strongly consider deleting my account after recording my matches and downloading my data. 23andMe has ceased to be useful for me and has increasingly become a liability.
Please do NOT panic and run over there and delete your account without thoughtful consideration and taking these preservation measures first. Truly, I will tell you if I think you need to act on something immediately, as I have in the past.
I am NOT specifically recommending deleting your account. Everyone’s circumstances and goals are different.
For example, if you’re an adoptee fishing in all the ponds, you may want to wait. If your focus is health, you’re probably not reading this article, but that might be justification for people to wait. Or, if you’re a genealogist who wants as many matches as possible, you may want to wait and see how things shake out.
Regardless, the following recommendations ARE for everyone. Being prepared is better than being surprised.
Recommendations
Whether you choose to delete your account at 23andMe in the near future, wait, or maybe never, I have the following recommendations, just in case.
- Download your raw DNA data file.
- Preserve your matches in some fashion.
- Save your ethnicity segments file.
Here are step-by-step instructions for each item, plus several tips and hints.
Download Your Raw DNA File
Download your raw DNA file so that you can upload it elsewhere if you wish.
To download your raw DNA file, click on Resources, then “Browse Data.”
Select “Download” at the top of the next page where you will be prompted for your birth date.
You will then see a full page of “Important Warnings to Consider.”
Scroll to the bottom
Check the “I understand” box and then click on “Submit Request.”
You will receive an email when your file is ready to be downloaded.
If your email is not current, you will need to call or contact 23andMe support for assistance.
You can upload your 23andMe DNA file to MyHeritage, here, to GEDmatch, and to FamilyTreeDNA again soon. I’ve written instructions for uploading and downloading data to/from each vendor in the article DNA File Upload-Download and Transfer Instructions to and from DNA Testing Companies, here.
Preserve Your 23andMe Matches
Next, review and preserve your matches shown under DNA Relatives. You may want to use screenshots or create a spreadsheet, which is my recommendation. You’ll be able to retain and preserve a LOT more information using a spreadsheet, including how your matches are related to each other.
The good news, or bad news, depending on your perspective, is that unless you have paid for a subscription, you’ll only have 1500 matches to deal with. With a subscription, you’ll have up to about 5,000.
Match Information Spreadsheet
I suggest working with your closest matches first.
You’ll find your matches under “Ancestry,” then “DNA Relatives.” Matches are listed in the closest match order.
For each match you can view information, including:
- Birth year and location
- Your predicted relationship
- If they are in the genetic tree that 23andMe has created for you
- Their ancestors’ birthplaces, if they have provided that information.
- Their family surnames
- An important link to their family tree if they have provided that link
- Their ethnicity which may be important if you share a common ethnicity that suggests or precludes lineages
- High level Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
- Relatives in Common which are shared matches – and how much DNA your two matches share with each other
- Any notes you’ve made
Other features previously available at 23andMe were discontinued after the breach.
If you downloaded your matches file before the October 2023 breach, you’re in luck because you can simply update that file with your new matches except for segment information. That’s what I’m doing. Your download file will be a CSV file styled “roberta_estes_relatives_download” where your name replaces mine.
If you didn’t download your matches before the breach, you can’t today, as that’s one of the features they removed after the breach.
Recording your matches’ information is the first step, but there’s an important second step too that will help you piece all of this information together.
Relatives in Common Relationship Grid
I strongly suggest creating a relationship grid detailing who matches whom for your shared matches. Yes, I know that’s a LOT of work, but it may well be worth it to wring every ounce out of your DNA matches. Plus, you can then keep it current as new matches arrive. Right now, I’ve set a goal for myself to complete 100 per day. That’s do able.
The “Relatives in Common” feature is extremely useful and facilitates constructing your tree and fitting your matches into their relative places in your tree. Relatives in Common tells you not only how much DNA you share with your matches but also their estimated relationship to each other and how much DNA they share.
To begin the process, you really only need to be able to identify “someone” and then chain people together based on shared matches and estimated relationships. I’ll show you.
To find Relatives in Common information and how much DNA they share with each other, click on a specific match, preferably one that you know, under DNA Relatives, then scroll down to “Find Relatives in Common.”
Here’s the list of matches shared between DH and me.
Here’s the beginning of the relationship spreadsheet I created.
This example shows the amount of DNA I share with my matches in the left column, then how much they share with each other. I’ve color-coded the results. Blue is my father’s paternal line. His mother’s line is not represented in these matches. Purple is my mother’s maternal line, and apricot is her paternal line.
DH is estimated by 23andMe to be my second cousin and shares 7.13% of my paternal DNA across 17 segments. DH also shares DNA with James, George, Daniel, RA, and Joyce.
You can see how much DNA any match shares with me, as well as with any other match, which I’ve entered into the chart.
Unfortunately, only one person, Patricia, has included a link to a tree, but our common ancestor was shown there. In two other cases, surnames provided information, as did previous communications. I can fit almost every one of these people into my tree, at least tentatively, using this information. Sometimes I match them at other vendors too, providing additional information.
If you used Genetic Affairs to cluster your 23andMe matches before the breach, you may already have at least part of your match and shared match information. I save everything to my computer, and I hope you did too.
I happen to know how two of these people are related to me, so I can begin my “shared tree” there, adding other people as I figure out their shared relationships. For example, if a match is my second cousin and also a second cousin to another match, chances are really good that we all share great-grandparents. Remember that 23andMe has taken a stab at genetic tree construction on their genetically created (now nearly unreadable) Family Tree, found under “Family and Friends.”
This tree may or may not help you.
Please note – if you wish to message any of your matches, you need to do that through the 23andMe internal platform, so don’t wait, do it now by clicking on your match, then “Message.”
Download Your Ethnicity Results and Segments
Download your ethnicity results and segment information so that you can use your segment location information to compare to matches from other companies that provide matching segment information.
Your ethnicity information is available under Ancestry, then Ancestry Composition, then Select Scientific Details.
Scroll all the way to the bottom – which is a LONG way.
Select the confidence level and then click on Download Raw Data.” I use 50%, but you can download each one if you want.
The resulting file holds the locations on your chromosomes of your various estimated ethnicities. You can upload that file to DNAPainter to correlate with your matches from any testing company, and with ancestors whose DNA you’ve identified.
I wrote about that, here, and have discussed how to “walk ethnicity segments back in time” using DNAPainter in several presentations. This technique is how I identified my Native American ancestor on my mother’s side, which was then confirmed by mitochondrial DNA testing on an appropriately descended individual.
Prognosis
If 23andMe remains viable, you’ll be ahead of the game. You’ll have preserved your information and may have identified some new matches and their ancestors.
However, if 23andMe doesn’t survive or is sold, you’ll have protected your investment and won’t be caught by surprise.
If you’re thinking about deleting your account, take the steps set forth above, first. The reason I’m providing this information now is so that, in case something happens, you have time to complete these tasks to protect your important information and matches.
If you choose to delete your 23andMe account, you’ll have preserved as much of your investment as possible. Remember, think before deleting because once you’ve deleted your account, you can’t undo it without testing again. This is especially important if you’re managing the DNA of someone who is now deceased. In that case, delete is irrecoverable.
Let’s just hope this all blows over, and you’ll have benefitted by finding new genealogy information.
Recent News Articles
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/18/23andme-board-turmoil-dna-test/
https://www.axios.com/2024/09/18/23andme-resignations-anne-wojcicki
https://investors.23andme.com/node/9531/pdf
My Articles
https://dna-explained.com/2023/10/07/23andme-user-accounts-exposed-change-your-password-now/
