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Direct-to-consumer genetic tests like Ancestry and 23andMe were mostly the result of innocent curiosity.
Geneticists at the turn of the century were hopeful that after the near completion of the Human Genome Project, they would be able to provide comprehensive personalized insights to everyone. While this idea may be true eventually, right now it’s still a pipe dream: Individual genetics have so many variations (membership), scientists couldn’t possibly understand them all in the few decades modern genetics has existed.
At-home genetic testing companies, though, immediately capitalized on the few variations scientists do understand: a handful related to health and wellness traits, and a few others associated with populations from across the world. The services filled a need (membership). Customers desperately want to understand their genetic material, and now they could, it seemed, with easy-to-read maps and donut charts.
But the designs of these popular tests raise ethical questions. On the one hand, simplified genetic reports make personalized science accessible. They’re also easily shared on social media, adding an element of entertainment. On the other, they obfuscate the nuances and complexities of a growing scientific discipline. Although most companies make their tests’ shortcomings clear in the fine print, users don’t have much incentive to read about them when sleek presentations fool them into thinking they have the full story.
In most cases, these companies risk spreading faulty science communication—a disservice, but not a tragedy. But if they lead customers to misinterpret information about their health, or propagate ideas that ancestral identity can be determined entirely through genetic estimates, the consequences could be disastrous. White nationalists, for example, have used ancestry tests to try to prove their “purity” (membership). And while there’s no data yet to suggest that customers are using genetic test results to justify forgoing medically necessary screenings, it’s easy to see how this could happen.
The growth of these services has been exponential in recent years: Globally over 26 million people have taken some kind of consumer genetic test, and in just five years, forecasts suggest, the industry will be worth $2.5 billion. It’s clear that the services’ popularity won’t go away anytime soon. The long-term effects they’ll have on consumers depend on how their creators choose to clarify the uncertainties of science. —Katherine Ellen Foley
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
Feeling the beat. The song “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X is this year’s surprise hit, charting at number one in the US for the past three weeks. But the artist purchased the underlying beat for just $30 on an online marketplace. Inspired by his success, our reporters Dan Kopf and Corinne Purtill tried to see if they could replicate his success by recording their own song over that same track. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Fighting Amazon with fanaticism. At a time when online retailers live in fear of the retail giant barging into their businesses, Fanatics has learned from and then iterated on its model. As Mike Murphy reports, for the past eight years it’s been winning contracts to run major US sports leagues’ e-commerce sites, figuring out what fans want and making those products itself, winning further deals with leagues and teams to produce official merchandise. Next goal: international domination.
How Chinese students are changing Western universities. They are the largest group of international students from a single country ever. In the US, Australia, and Canada, nearly one in three international students is from China. This happened because of two converging trends, explains Isabelle Niu (membership) in a Quartz video: the rise of China’s middle class, and universities’ increasingly revenue-focused approach to enrollment. Niu visits America’s heartland to see how one university is taking unprecedented steps to adapt.
Pushing the envelope. An explosion during a SpaceX crew-capsule test on April 20 is the latest anomaly in the ongoing project to launch astronauts from US soil again. Senior reporter Tim Fernholz describes fears of a program gone awry as overblown, and reminds us that embracing risk on the test stand is exactly why NASA chose CEO Elon Musk for the job in the first place.
The Bollywood vote. As elections in India continue, Ananya Bhattacharya reports that some 15 big names in entertainment are on the ballots, including famous actors and actresses. And celebs have gotten involved in other ways, too, like actor Shahrukh Khan creating a rap anthem aimed at voter turnout at the behest of prime minister Narendra Modi, or a group of personalities indicating their willingness to shill for candidates on social media in exchange for cash.
Five things elsewhere that made us smarter
China exports its surveillance system. When Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, more was on display than the world’s top athletes. Visiting leaders were also shown the Chinese capital’s domestic surveillance system for monitoring citizens—and some became interested in getting their own. For the New York Times, Paul Mozur visits Ecuador, one of the many nations where made-in-China surveillance technology has been put to dubious use in recent years (paywall).
Out of Africa. Most Western companies won’t buy African gold directly from small-scale prospectors for fear that the mining involved human-rights abuses or helped fund conflicts. The United Arab Emirates, however, is happy to do so. For Reuters, David Lewis and others show how billions of dollars worth of African gold ends up in Dubai—a gateway to the US, Europe, and beyond. Much of it goes unrecorded, with no taxes being paid to the country of origin.
Amazon cans a lot of fulfillment-center workers. Documents obtained by Colin Lecher at the Verge suggest that the e-commerce giant is firing employees over productivity issues at a relatively high rate–at least 10% of staff every year in North America–enabled by a mechanized tracking system that assesses individual efficiency and can issue not only computerized warnings but even terminations. Some workers say they forego bathroom breaks to avoid getting tagged for taking time off-task.
Draconian responses to the Sri Lanka massacre could backfire. Typical measures in the counterterrorism playbook could stir more violence, writes Nimmi Gowrinathan in Foreign Policy, presenting an opportunity to try tactics that don’t involve militarizing the police or even demonizing terrorists. Instead, efforts to combat violence might include analyses of women’s roles in such attacks and ensuring that the country’s Muslim population isn’t targeted.
Hacker in the home. Many people use the same password and username/email address for different online services and internet-connected devices. That paves the way for “credential stuffing,” a cyber-attack in which those same creds, often obtained from a data breach, are tested across a variety of other services and devices. The Washington Post’s Reed Albergotti reports on how this has compromised the Nest Cam, a mainstream home-security camera—and on the creepy real-world results (paywall).
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, fair trade gold, and unique passwords to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was edited by Steve Mollman and Holly Ojalvo.