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My Gene Counsel, Ambry Genetics Partner on DTC Genetic Test Verification

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Digital health company My Gene Counsel announced today that it has partnered with Ambry Genetics to offer medical-grade testing to verify direct-to-consumer genetic test results, as well as genetic counseling to individuals found to be at high risk for cancer.

My Gene Counsel said that the service is designed for people who have taken a DTC genetic test and have a personal or family history of cancer, even if they have received a negative DTC test result. The New Haven, Connecticut-based company is offering a limited number of free subscriptions to the service and genetic counseling.

About a year ago, researchers from Aliso Viejo, California-based Ambry — a Konica Minolta company — published a study suggesting that roughly 40 percent of genetic variants reported in raw data from DTC genetic tests may be wrong.

"Our results demonstrate the importance of confirming DTC raw data variants in a clinical laboratory that is experienced in both complex variant detection and classification," Brigette Tippin Davis, senior vice president of research and development at Ambry, said in a statement. "Both false-positive results and misclassification of variants can result in significant implications for an individual, including unnecessary stress, medical procedures, and testing of family members. Together, My Gene Counsel and Ambry Genetics are providing a unique solution that will help alleviate these problems."

Specific terms of the alliance were not disclosed.