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23andMe Faces $5 Million Lawsuit Days After Being Banned By FDA

Google-Backed Genetics Company Slammed With $5 Million Lawsuit
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Senior Reporter, HuffPost

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Genetic testing company 23andMe has been slammed with a $5 million lawsuit less than a week after the Federal Drug Administration ordered the company to halt sales.

Filed by San Diego, Calif. resident Lisa Casey, the class action lawsuit against the Silicon Valley company claims their genetic testing kits are meaningless, unsupported by scientific evidence and falsely advertised to consumers. The Google-backed company sells $99 spit-kits that consumers fill with a saliva sample, return for DNA testing and receive back with a glimpse into their genetic makeup and propensity for different diseases and conditions.

"It seems to me to be a very thinly disguised way of getting people to pay them to build a DNA database," Casey’s attorney Mark Ankcorn told NBC News. “I anticipate they are going to fight it and use every available resource they have to deny the claims.”

A 23andMe spokesperson said in a statement that they would not comment on legal proceedings.

On Nov. 27, the FDA ordered 23andMe to stop sales of its kits, stating that the company is in violation of U.S. law because the tests have not been cleared by the federal government to make medical claims.

Before 23andMe faced legal scrutiny, critics alleged the company was paving the way for the “designer baby” market because of a patent it holds allowing egg and sperm recipients to evaluate how their genes will combine with a donor’s. However, the company announced that it no longer intends to implement the patented technology in fertility clinics.

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Before You Go

Bizarre Genetic Engineering
Pollution-fighting plants(01 of05)
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Scientists at the University of Washington are engineering poplar trees that can clean up contamination sites by absorbing groundwater pollutants through their roots. The plants then break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that are incorporated into their roots, stems and leaves or released into the air. In laboratory tests, the transgenic plants are able to remove as much as 91 percent of trichloroethylene — the most common groundwater contaminant at U.S. Superfund sites — out of a liquid solution. Regular poplar plants removed just 3 percent of the contaminant. (credit:University of Washington)
Venomous cabbage(02 of05)
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Scientists have recently taken the gene that programs poison in scorpion tails and combined it with cabbage. Why would they want to create venomous cabbage? To limit pesticide use while still preventing caterpillars from damaging cabbage crops. These genetically modified cabbages produce scorpion poison that kills caterpillars when they bite leaves — but the toxin is modified so it isn’t harmful to humans. (credit:File/Flickr:net_efekt)
Web-spinning goats(03 of05)
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Strong, flexible spider silk is one of the most valuable materials in nature, and it could be used to make an array of products — from artificial ligaments to parachute cords — if we could just produce it on a commercial scale. In 2000, Nexia Biotechnologies announced it had the answer: a goat that produced spiders’ web protein in its milk. Researchers inserted a spiders’ dragline silk gene into the goats’ DNA in such a way that the goats would make the silk protein only in their milk. This “silk milk” could then be used to manufacture a web-like material called Biosteel. (credit:File/Flickr:maessive)
Flavr Savr tomato(04 of05)
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The Flavr Savr tomato was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption. By adding an antisense gene, the California-based company Calgene hoped to slow the ripening process of the tomato to prevent softening and rotting, while allowing the tomato to retain its natural flavor and color. The FDA approved the Flavr Savr in 1994; however, the tomatoes were so delicate that they were difficult to transport, and they were off the market by 1997. On top of production and shipping problems, the tomatoes were also reported to have a very bland taste: “The Flavr Savr tomatoes didn’t taste that good because of the variety from which they were developed. There was very little flavor to save,” said Christ Watkins, a horticulture professor at Cornell University. (credit:File/Flickr: Mr. T in DC)
(05 of05)
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CLICK HERE to continue on to Mother Nature Network to see the rest of these bizarre genetically engineered creations, including banana vaccines, less-flatulent cows, medicinal eggs and more!
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