Here's what potential 23andMe buyers could do with your genetic data

23andMe is looking for buyers, raising concerns about how the company's trove of genetic data might be leveraged under a new owner.Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI 23andMe filed for bankruptcy amid financial struggles and fallout after a data breach. Now, potential buyers and investors are weighing the value of its DNA database. One of the world's largest troves of genetic information, its sale is raising new privacy concerns. Late last month, genetic testing giant 23andMe filed for bankruptcy. The San Francisco-based company — cofounded in 2006 by former healthcare investor Anne Wojcicki — rose to fame for offering genetic testing services directly to customers. When the company went public in 2021, it was valued at just over $6 billion. Now, it says it had debts of $2.3 billion, about $126 million in cash and cash equivalents, and needs additional liquidity. The company's descent into financial uncertainty wasn't sudden. 23andMe had struggled with its business model, failing to turn a profit almost two decades after it began selling direct-to-consumer DNA test kits. Demand for its premiere product — a one-time test — began waning around 2019, and its effort to provide more consumer value through additional services wasn't enough to close the gap. Then, in October 2023, hackers accessed the personal details of some users in a data breach that cost the company $30 million in a later settlement agreement. The breach also made potential new customers nervous about the security of their data and more resistant to purchasing kits. The company's announcement that it was filing for bankruptcy and seeking buyers has now further raised concerns among consumers about the security of 23andMe's database, one of the largest consumer DNA databases in the world. Cybersecurity experts have urged users to delete their data, pointing to a host of risks: Genetic data can be used to further discrimination, enable financial fraud, and develop biological weapons, they say. 23andMe has said it will continue operating until a buyer is found. A race to acquire the company — and its data — has begun. Here's everything you need to know about the sale and what might happen to your DNA data. 23andMe gathers genetic data using saliva samples. Consumers receive a collection kit and submit about 2 milliliters of saliva. Each kit has a collection tube labeled with a 14-digit barcode. "After the sample passes visual inspection, the barcode — which is the only identifying information shared with the laboratory — is scanned and the sample moves to DNA extraction," 23andMe spokesperson Ann Sommerlath told BI by email. "Once a sample is successfully genotyped, the laboratory sends the resulting data back to 23andMe along with the accompanying barcode, at which point we can begin interpreting your data."