23andMe is splitting up its health and ancestry testing. "Some people want to know everything their genetics can tell them, while others are interested in only part of the story," says the company's Spittoon blog. Beginning later this week, the ancestry edition will cost $399, the health edition $425, and if you want both, the price tag will be $499. Currently, it is $399 for both. The new health edition will contain more carrier status results, the blog adds.
At Genetic Future, Daniel MacArthur says the split into different product lines is not surprising as Pathway Genomics has taken the same approach and Navigenics is health-only. However, the price difference was a surprise. "The increase in the price of the full scan, however, is a shock to those of us expecting a consistent decrease in the cost of personal genomics products, and suggests that the two rounds of lay-offs from the company this year were indeed driven by cash flow problems rather than mere restructuring," MacArthur says.