China's bargain alternative to Google-backed genomics startup 23andMe -- Genebox -- says it has developed a type of testing apparatus key to consumer-grade DNA kits that could break a global duopoly.
High-density microarrays are key to so-called direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits used in the U.S. by DNA home-testing companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, which encourage people to send in saliva samples that are tested to determine the likeliness that the customers might develop gene-linked diseases like Alzheimer's. The companies also promise to map customers' supposed ancestral backgrounds.
