How to choose a DNA sequencing provider
It can be a bit of a minefield
Getting your DNA sequenced and analyzed can be a huge health unlock, but figuring out where and how to get your DNA sequenced is a minefield. I did whole genome sequencing (WGS) and went on a large quest to figure out how I could use this data. My research project had many pitfalls, so hopefully, this will make your journey faster.
wrote a far more detailed article about his journey, and we ended up with similar results. He wrote the article I was planning to write eventually. However, due to how detailed it is, it can be overwhelming. Read this one if you want a more concise set of recommendations.Easy to understand & expensive vs. power user & cheap
The first thing you want to determine is if you want to use other services with raw DNA data to get all the best info possible with some more work or if you want a test with actionable and easy-to-use advice. If you want something easier to understand and usable without much extra work, then I would recommend:
3x4 Genetics ($250): Tests a tiny amount of DNA but makes an easy-to-understand report.
Self Decode ($320-850) is a fairly comprehensive information database with the most accurate interpretations I’ve seen, but it charges much more than others.
Genefood ($100-250): Specifically, if you want genetically customized diet advice, it can unlock some health issues for specific people.
The main downside of these services is that they are more expensive ($250 vs. $40) for an equivalent amount of partial DNA sequencing. With GeneFood, you cannot download your raw data, and 3x4 Genetics only tests a tiny part of your genome. But if you don’t have much time to dive into more detailed services, do some of your research, and have more money than time, these can be good options.
Partial vs Whole Genome Sequencing
For most people, I would recommend starting with an SNP chip partial genome sequencing (SNP test) vs. a WGS (Whole Genome Sequencing), even if they are a power user type. Mostly because:
They are $40-100 vs. $400-1000, up to 10x cheaper. The SNP test I usually recommend, MyHeritage, is the cheapest and probably has the best international shipping network. Most WGS services are not as internationally available.
This starter price is cheap and can tell you if you care about the complete coverage of a WGS or find even an SNP test too overwhelming as it is. It’s cheap enough to do as a taster or as a fun thing to do.
Almost all WGS services take a very long time to give you your results, at minimum many months, except for Nucleus (4-6 weeks) and maybe a couple of others. Due to their volume, SNP test services have much faster turnaround times.
Most services that you can use to interpret your DNA only accept the output of these SNP chip services. The only ones that I know of that accept a WGS output are Genetic Genie and SelfDecode.
The industry has not caught up properly to WGS and is still stuck in SNP land. SNP test raw data is 5MB, while a WGS is 500MB (VCF) to 100GB (FASTQ / BAM), depending on which files you download, so they are also more manageable. Converting a WGS output to an SNP format is also a huge nerdy pain in the ass, so I would almost just do both to save yourself some time if you still want to do a WGS.
Which Partial Genome Sequencing SNP provider?
I recommend MyHeritage for most people since they are the cheapest at $35-40, have a good international shipping network and turnaround times, and cover as much DNA as all the other services. They were much faster than ancestry in processing our various DNA kits for my family. They also have the most EU people in their DNA database and are the best for determining Jewish ancestry. The downside of MyHeritage is some interpretation services don’t accept their output format since 23andme and Ancestry are the most popular formats. Still, you can convert the file format fairly easily with some nerdy scripting work.
If Ancestry is the same price at $40, then I recommend them over MyHeritage. They have a much better ethnicity estimation program than MyHeritage (other than for Jewish ancestry), the most people in their DB, pay for return shipping, unlike MyHeritage, and a nicer app. You can then upload your Ancestry raw data into MyHeritage to match with people on their database, while Ancestry and 23andMe don’t accept data uploads. I used them recently, and they were far more accurate with their ethnicity estimations, and I had a much better experience software experience with them.
I would not recommend 23andme due to recent controversies, its uncertain future, recent security issues, and usually a more expensive price.
SelfDecode is another popular one, especially for health-focused interpretation. However, they charge $420 if you don’t bring your file minimum and are still an SNP service that covers 750k SNPs vs. MyHeritage’s 720k. Their website says they ‘impute’ that file to 82 million SNPs, but the base data they use is still 750k SNPs. They also let you download your raw data.
If you want to pay more than $40 or $50 and get more data, I suggest skipping the other services and going straight to WGS since most SNP services have large overlaps and cost much more. I’ve personally used MyHeritage, Ancestry and SelfDecode, with 23andme being the last service I haven’t used.
Which Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) provider?
Now, if you want to get all the data and get annoyed that you were missing some parts of analysis in genetic lifehacks or similar, I would recommend just skipping to a WGS and getting all the data once vs. messing with getting sequenced multiple times with various SNP chip services. The future of genetic services is also WGS since it will only get cheaper with Illumina’s patents expiring.
I would say if you can buy it in your country, I would probably go with Nucleus. In my research, most services have a lot of issues in turnaround times. 3-8 months is very typical, while Nucleus has a turnaround time of 4-6 weeks. They are a dynamic startup that adds new reports all the time, but they are also new, so there is a lot to add at this point. Also, many major WGS services ship your DNA data to China, which many find uncomfortable. Nucleus is US-based and runs its sequencing in US labs.
If you are uncomfortable shipping your DNA data to the USA or China, I would recommend YSEQ, which is based in Germany and has a good reputation. Their services and interface are a bit nerdy and harder to use, though.
If you want a free option, you can also get sequenced by an academic research study and ask for your data or the NIH All of Us program and ask for your data. However, it will probably be unreliable and take up a lot of time.
Once you have your data, you can follow the instructions here or here to convert your WGS file into an SNP file format that is more usable with everything else.
The DNA testing service I want is not available in my country
The DNA test kits are very small and are often a small cheek swab. DNA molecules (and thus tests) are also very stable and sterile after a sample is collected and can last up to a year! This means if you want a specific service, you can forward ship the testing kit to your country and back and not ruin your testing sample usually. You can do this with a friend who lives in your target country or an explicit forward shipping service.
You might want to do this if the only WGS services with a good turnaround time don’t ship to your country. But this is untested and not real advice, so make sure to do everything legally and do your own research.
How do I privately sequence myself?
To privately sequence yourself with any service, you have a few options. You can buy some kits in retail shops with cash and register with a fake name to keep your privacy. Nobody checks your ID for these things, but doing this is usually against their Terms of Service. Then, once you have your raw data downloaded, ask them to delete it and your account, which they all respect.
For providers that only ship online, you can buy pre-paid Visa cards with cash, ship them to a locker service, register with a fake name, and use the kit. All of these kits use simple cheek swabs or spit tubes. Fortunately, none of them use blood. Again, using a fake name is probably against their Terms of Service, and I don’t know the legality of doing the above two things. I’ve also never done this myself.
What do I do with the data?
This is the largest current gap in DNA testing, at least concerning health optimization and biohacking, and thus is fairly nerdy. Most DNA ‘health’ interpretation services are fairly milquetoast in their recommendations or descriptions, and they usually don’t create much actionable advice, unfortunately, unless you have a serious genetic condition. This means you need to go rogue and use other services.
Before you go deep into analyzing your results, you need to realize that genetic results are not certainties; they are probabilities. So if a genetic interpretation service says X is your trait, it means that ‘it’s more likely it’s your trait.’ So don’t be disappointed if a service interpretation doesn’t match your reality.
Also, realize that there is a lot we don’t know yet about genetics and that there is a lot of new science to be discovered!
This video is a great explainer of how genetic probability works:
This video is a great explainer of how genetic ancestry works:
Nerds & Biohackers:
Currently, my favorite set for nerds & biohackers, and the price-conscious are:
Genetic Lifehacks ($10/month / free-ish)
Genetic Genie (Free, donation based)
They provide a lot of raw data about this enzyme and how you absorb this nutrient or handle this health issue. Genetic Lifehacks is also a blog, so each statement or recommendation is attached to a blog article that explains it in very detail. Genetic Genie can also point out a bunch of other stuff that genetic lifehacks might not cover and point to the studies about which each entry derives its data.
More expensive services
Some other genetic services I like but cost more and have some restrictions are:
Genefood: They can recommend what food works best for you, but they don’t work very well with external files, don’t provide raw data if you use them, and are relatively expensive.
Self Decode: Self Decode offers a fairly comprehensive interpretation service. It costs $320 minimum if you bring your own data file and $420 if you use their SNP test. I’ve used it myself and found it fairly useful.
Ancestry / Ethnicity Estimates
DNA sequencing first became popular with ancestry services and DNA relative searching. Each service specializes in providing ancestry information for specific regions or ethnicities and has databases that tend to be concentrated in specific regions.
Each service covers about the same amount of DNA, but the parts tend to differ. Best DNA Raw Data: 23andMe, AncestryDNA, or MyHeritage? – Genetic Genie is a good article about it.
MyHeritage ($40): This is the most affordable, has the best EU database, and is best at Jewish ancestry estimates. It also accepts uploads from third parties. This is one I used.
23andme ($60-100): More health-focused but also has a large ancestry database. Has had recent issues and controversies, and it’s not clear if they will continue existing soon.
Ancestry ($40-100): It has the largest database and the most US people, but it does not accept data uploads. I also sequenced myself on their service, and their estimates were far more accurate for myself.
FamilyTreeDNA ($80): Another service with a small database focused on Y chromosome & mitochondrial DNA.
LivingDNA ($30 for report) is best for British Isles ancestry ethnicity estimate details. I used this, too, and it was interesting to see the details about my British Isles ancestry. Otherwise, it has a small DNA database.
23mofang and WeGene are good for Chinese ethnicity estimate details but are based in mainland China.
This YouTube video gives a more detailed review of all of the above:
Summary Table
This was my Notion table about providers, which gives a summary of all of the above.
