A group of 27 states along with the District of Columbia is taking legal action to halt the potential sale of consumer genetic data held by 23andMe, arguing that individuals never agreed to have their DNA treated like property in a bankruptcy proceeding.
The case, filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Missouri, targets what the states view as a dangerous precedent: auctioning off sensitive, deeply personal genetic material without the informed, ongoing consent of those who provided it.
23andMe, once a dominant force in the consumer genetics industry, has gathered DNA samples from more than 15 million users. The company, previously valued at $6 billion, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and began a court-supervised process to offload its assets.
At the center of the lawsuit is a belief that genetic data cannot be lumped in with other commercial holdings. States argue that this information is not only private but fundamentally irreplaceable.
