• Late financier Jeffrey Epstein pursued a far-fetched plan to study people's DNA from one of his homes in the US Virgin Islands.
• Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell earlier this month.
• Experts told Business Insider that Epstein's genetic research plans were outlandish and far-fetched.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jeffrey Epstein received a valuable tax break on the basis of an outlandish business plan to study people's DNA on a Caribbean island and sell the resulting data to drug manufacturers. 

The financier and convicted sex offender died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell, less than five weeks after federal prosecutors filed sex trafficking charges against him in early July. In years past, Epstein surrounded himself with scientists and other scholars, crafting plans that ranged from racist to eccentric. He once aimed to impregnate women in an attempt to seed the human race with his own DNA. On another occasion, he brought environmentally harmful species to an island in the Caribbean, prompting a warning from local officials.

One of his lesser-known plans involved sequencing people's genomes.

The goal was to create a search engine capable of pinpointing genetic links to diseases like cancer, according to a 2012 transcript obtained by Business Insider through a public-records request. The transcript contains Epstein's testimony before the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, as part of an application he filed on the behalf of one of his companies, Southern Trust, for tax breaks. Parts of the transcript were originally reported by the New York Times.

"What Southern Trust will do will be basically organizing mathematical algorithms so that if I want to know what my predisposition is for cancer we can now have my genes specifically sequenced," Epstein said.

"You'll have computer generated solutions for medical problems," he added. Epstein also described working with at least one US scientist on the project. 

The plan had three main elements: First, a small team of scientists would gather genetic material from people living in St. Thomas and sequence their DNA to create catalog of population-level genetics data. Second, the team would design a search engine that would allow them to look for links to particular diseases. Finally, they would create a "virtual laboratory" for performing experiments using computer models. In theory, such a facility would free the scientists of the need for "wet" laboratories, which are designed for conducting research on biological substances and other potentially hazardous materials.

Gabriel Otte, the founder and CEO of cancer genetics startup Freenome, said Epstein's plan was far-fetched and simplistic. Two other knowledgeable sources consulted by Business Insider concurred.

"It's like he had conversations with 10 people who knew what they were doing and said, 'I'm going to create a company that does all of these things,'" Otte told Business Insider.

'None of these ideas are unique. And none of them are practical.'

Elements of Epstein's plan have links to reality.

The idea of sequencing people's DNA, analyzing it, and selling the insights to drug companies is well-known to companies in the space, for example. 

Last year, personal genetics company 23andMe signed a $300 million deal last year to sell de-identified batches of genetic data to drug giant GlaxoSmithKline; Calico, Google's life-extension spinoff, once teamed up with genealogy and DNA site Ancestry to study the genetics of longevity.

"None of these ideas are unique," Otte said. "And none of them are practical."

Companies like 23andMe look at genetic mutations that raise the risk of developing cancer. 23andMe's health test, for example, provides a glimpse at some of the well-known mutations tied to breast cancer.

A related but separate concept involves studying the genetics of cancer tumors.

Freenome, Otte's company, uses a blood test to look at the DNA inside cancer tumors. The goal is to reveal new targets for the next generation of cancer treatments.

Epstein appeared not to understand the distinction between the two. 

"What he is describing is not within the realm of possibilities today, and probably not for at least 500 years. It's clear that he didn't have a deep understanding of any of the science behind this," Otte said.

Epstein seemingly knew that his ideas sounded far-fetched. At one point during the testimony, he told the commissioners, "I am not a mad man."

'It's the Frankenstein version but it's true, yes'

While discussing the science that his new venture would involve, Epstein rambled, sometimes exploring tangents that appeared unrelated to the project.

When asked how the setup might work, he answered: "It's the Frankenstein version but it's true, yes. In fact it will turn out that certain people can learn certain things. Certain people can move through space differently."

Epstein also compared St. Thomas to Iceland and said the island was an ideal location for DNA analysis because of its isolation.

"Places, frankly, like St. Thomas are the perfect place to sequence people because it's so isolated. You are able to get much better data than ever before," he said.

But experts told Business Insider that St. Thomas' complex history, punctured with waves of immigration from the slave trade, meant that it was essentially the opposite of isolated.

Epstein had several companies that were repeatedly allowed to participate in a tax-cut program in the US Virgin Islands for local investors who spent $100,000 or more, The New York Times reported.

His Southern Trust company applied to the program in 2012 and received approval in 2014, according to an official certificate issued by the territory's Economic Development Authority. The approval was backdated to early 2013, when the authority held meetings to discuss the company's application.

In an interview with the Times, the agency refused to identify the exact value of Epstein's tax breaks. In general, however, the program offers lucrative benefits that include a 90% reduction in corporate income tax, a 100% exemption on business property tax, and the ability to rent space at "below market rates" in industrial parks located on St. Thomas. In return, Southern Trust was obligated to invest at least $400,000.

Epstein said in the testimony that he only needed a small team of researchers to get his project off the ground. He added that he was already working with one of them: someone who hailed from Harvard and previously worked at Princeton's Institute of Advanced Study.

Harvard mathematical biologist Martin Nowak meets that description. He was photographed meeting with Epstein in 2012, BuzzFeed reported. Nowak did not respond to requests from Business Insider to be interviewed or provide comment for this story. A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment.

In 2003, Epstein gave $6.5 million dollars to Harvard to start a new academic track called the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. It was led by Nowak, and in 2012, his researchers developed the first mathematical model showing how colon cancer cells stop responding to a type of cancer treatment, the Wall Street Journal reported.

To start his DNA sequencing project in St. Thomas, Otte believes Epstein aimed to sequence the genes of the local community.

"I get the sense that he believed the US Virgin Islands was likely to have looser guidelines around patient health data," Otte said.

SEE ALSO: uBiome insiders say key science at the buzzy startup was flawed from the start. Now, the company and a top science journal are investigating.

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• Johnny Walker was working for the NYPD on September 11, 2001. Today, he has stage 4 colon cancer. 
• Scientists studying 9/11 survivors say they have higher rates of many kinds of cancer, including breast, cervical, colon, and lung.
• Walker had his family's DNA mixed into red tattoo ink used on his arm to keep them close during treatment.
• The DNA extraction technique was developed by a company called Everence, which can turn hair, ash, grass, sand or any other material into a microencapsulated powder that tattoo artists can mix into their inks.

Retired NYPD officer Johnny Walker is living with the toxic effects of responding to the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.

As a result of the time he spent in the dangerously dusty air that circulated "on the pile" after the twin towers fell, Walker said, he's now dealing with stage 4 colon cancer, the most advanced kind. He says he spent some 400 hours in total at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. In the days and weeks afterwards, he helped with the recovery, cleaning up rubble, filling buckets, and even digging out body parts.  

Yet Walker maintains a wry sense of humor about his condition.

"That came back to bite me in the rear end," Walker said, referring to his intestinal cancer. "No pun intended." 

Many 9/11 rescue workers and survivors are plagued by tumors. According to the federal World Trade Center Health Program count, more than 13,290 firefighters, cops, office workers, and children who were living in or working around downtown Manhattan have high rates of many kinds of cancer. An estimated 732 9/11 survivors with cancer have died. 

This group has higher rates of roughly 70 types of cancer, including cervical, colon, and lung cancers. There have  even been 15 cases of breast cancer in men, as the New York Post reported. Many of these cancer cases are likely because these workers and survivors breathed in air contaminated with asbestos, lead, mercury and other toxic substances in the days and weeks following the attack. 

The bulk of the cancer cases, more than 9,400, are in first responders like Walker. His cancer has spread outside of his colon, and he has lymph node tumors pressing on internal organs near his digestive tract and pelvis. Sometimes, when he's undergoing another bi-weekly chemotherapy treatment, he likes to feel the support of his wife, kids, or a close friend. 

That's when he touches a cluster of red inked tattoos on his left arm. 

The ink on Walker's arm is infused with a powder that contains his loved ones' genetic material. The powder, called Everence, is essentially a bunch of tiny, plastic containers that hold individual DNA strands. Each of the plastic enclosures is about one-tenth the size of a human hair.

"I'm stuck on a machine, all by myself in there, I actually rub my arm, and I'm not by myself," Walker told Business Insider. 

Putting your people in a tattoo

When a colleague told Walker about the possibility of putting genetic material into tattoos, he wasn't immediately enthusiastic about it. 

"My first reaction to hearing about it was, like, 'that's creepy, I don't know about this stuff,'" he said. 

But after he thought about the idea a little more, Walker decided he wanted to be able to take his family with him wherever he went.

"Wait a second," he said, "I have cancer, and there's a possibility that I might not be here that much longer." 

In the spring of 2018, Walker inserted DNA from his wife, son, daughter, and a fellow NYPD officer into tattoos. His tattoo artist mixed the Everence powder into the red ink. Later, Walker added some tattoo chains to connect the tattoos.

"It's something tangible, something I can physically touch," he said.

Here are the tattoos Walker has with Everence powder:

Walker said the drawings are good luck talismans like the ones the Knights Templar used to carry. Each represents something different: health, protection, or brotherhood.

A tattoo of a blade and chalice, Walker said, "is symbolic of perfect love and perfect trust." That's where he put DNA from his wife. (She also has his DNA in a tattoo around her ring finger.)

"No matter where I go in this world, if life takes me somewhere else, I'm going to have them with me," he said.

Walker still wants to add to his tattoo collection, too. In June, his "cancer buddy" detective Luis Alvarez, a tireless advocate for 9/11 responders, died from complications of colorectal cancer after "one helluva rough battle" with the same cancer he has. Walker says he's now the sole remaining of a group of three officers including Alvarez who often chatted, shared experiences, and leaned on each other for support after they developed cancer. His other good friend, former sergeant Terry O'Hara, died from a 9/11-related cancer in 2017. 

"I am waiting for the green light from the doctor, but more importantly, permission from my wife (lol) to get another tattoo in remembrance of my fallen brethren," he told Business Insider in an email. "Sadly, I am the last remaining one of the three, and I often wonder how much time before I get called home."

How Everence powder works 

The week-long process for creating Everence dust was developed by chemist Edith Mathiowitz at Brown University and tested by Bruce Klitzman, who researches medical device implants at Duke University.

The fine, silvery powder is made from a polymer called PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate), which you might know better in its acrylic glass form, Plexiglas. Each grain of the powder acts as a tiny plastic container that holds one strand of extracted DNA, ash, or hair. The coating is sterile and won't erode over time, so it sits under a person's skin forever. 

Mathiowitz and Klitzman assert that the powder is clean and safe for implantation. 

"It's a medical-grade material that is being used all over the world for many therapeutic applications," Mathiowitz said in a video on Everence's site.

Everence co-founder Patrick Duffy said in 2018 that more than 250 people had Everence tattoos. The powder has come down in price since then, and now costs $225.

The process Duffy uses to package DNA into tiny capsules also allows clients to add non-human materials into their tattoo if they want. Those materials get milled into an ultra-fine powder, then encapsulated in the same plastic polymer coating. 

Everence has created tiny particles of blades of stadium grass, Harley Davidson motorcycle shards, and bits of volcanic rocks to put into Everence powder.

"Ultimately, you could really put anything that you imagine into your tattoos," Duffy said.

For people who aren't fans of tattoos, the powder can even be mixed into a clear, ink-free solution, then invisibly injected into the skin. It's the same process, sans ink, but the powder still sits in you forever. 

Update: This story was originally published on September 11, 2018. It has been updated with the latest cancer and death counts, as well as news from Walker.

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• Financial statements and other filings obtained by The New York Times showed Jeffrey Epstein had no problem rebounding from various issues that plagued him — the 2008 financial crisis, losing his biggest client Les Wexner, and registering as sex offender after pleading guilty to two state counts of soliciting prostitution.
• In 2012, four years after the financial crisis and Epstein's guilty plea to soliciting prostitution (including a minor), he founded a start-up that made made more than $200 million in revenues over the next five years.
• The Times outlined peculiar line items in the obtained documents that points to an association between Epstein's former company, Financial Trust, and his start-up, Southern Trust.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The late criminal financier Jeffrey Epstein made more than $200 million after he made the career switch from financial services to DNA research.

Financial statements and other filings obtained by The New York Times showed the financier had no problem rebounding from various issues that plagued him — the 2008 financial crisis, losing his biggest client Les Wexner, and registering as sex offender.

Before the financial crisis, Epstein worked in financial services with his company Financial Trust. "At Financial Trust, a company with fewer than a dozen employees, investment expenses varied widely, from $1.3 million in 2000 to $16 million in 2004 to $42 million in 2005," The Times reported, but Epstein lost more than $150 million once the financial crisis hit in 2008.

In 2012, four years after the financial crisis and Epstein's guilty plea to one count of soliciting a minor for prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution, he founded a start-up, Southern Trust, which allegedly worked to develop a DNA data-mining service, The Times reported. Over the next five years, the company reportedly made more than $200 million in revenues.

Read more:Jeffrey Epstein made $200 million in 5 years after he registered as a sex offender. Here's how the mysterious financier made his fortune

However, the documents do not list any specific details on investors. Epstein's fortunes have been clouded in mystery since he died by suicide in August. Two days before his death, he signed a new will that placed his wealth into a trust two days before his death. The Times outlined peculiar line items in the obtained documents that point to an association between the two companies, Financial Trust and Southern Trust.

"In 2006 — the year Mr. Epstein was charged in Florida — Financial Trust pushed $117 million into an unnamed subsidiary whose purpose was undisclosed," The Times reported. "The subsidiary was apparently transferred to Southern Trust in 2013, and by the end of 2017 the subsidiary accounted for more than half of the company's $391 million in assets.

The filings also showed an anonymous loan to Southern Trust of $30.5 million in 2017, The Times reported.

Read the full article at The New York Times »

SEE ALSO: The famous connections of Jeffrey Epstein, the elite wealth manager who died in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

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• The genealogy giant Ancestry is getting into the business of healthcare.
• On Tuesday, the company announced two health products: AncestryHealth Core and AncestryHealth Plus, which are designed to help users of the company's DNA test get a sense of their family health history.
• The company had long avoided healthcare, even as personal-genetics companies like 23andMe have made it a key part of their businesses.
• AncestryHealth Core will cost $149 — or $49 if users have already taken an Ancestry test — while Plus will cost $199, and additional quarterly updates after the first six months will cost $49 every six months.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Ancestry, the family-history website, is preparing for a big move into healthcare, an area the 36-year-old firm has largely avoided.

The company is planning to start selling two new products: AncestryHealth Core and AncestryHealth Plus. Both products will provide information like carrier status for genetic conditions, cancer risk, and wellness reports and can help users get a sense of their family health history as well as ancestry. Unlike tests from rivals like 23andMe, Ancestry will require a doctor to be involved in ordering the tests and interpreting the results. The tests at launch isn't available to residents of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. 

Ancestry's DNA test, designed to map out your genetic roots going back generations, has been growing quickly since launching in 2012. In 2015 the company hit 1 million people tested, and in this past May it said it had run tests for more than 15 million people. Until now, those users haven't received reports on health information.

"We didn't want to be just another company issuing lab reports," Ancestry CEO Margo Georgiadis told Business Insider. Georgiadis said there were several key considerations that fell into place that convinced her it was time to jump in: The science and the consumer had to be ready, and the tests needed to be affordable.

Healthcare is just the latest evolution for Ancestry, which was founded in 1983 to publish magazines about family history. The company later built family-tree software and launched Ancestry.com in 1996. It has focused largely on family histories and family-tree products as well as on detailing migration patterns.

While 23andMe paved the way for health-focused consumer genetics tests, other firms have struggled to figure out a business model that works. The DNA-testing startup Helix cut its workforce in May as it moved more into working with health systems and health plans rather than going directly to consumers.

Color, a consumer genetics company that provides a physician-ordered test, has been partnering with health systems and life-sciences companies like Verily to provide genetic screenings.

Why Ancestry is working with doctors

Georgiadis, who joined Ancestry in 2018 after a brief stint running the toymaker Mattel, said the company had avoided health because there wasn't much it could provide that would spur users to act on their health information.

"For a long time, I think the company was very focused on how do we make sure that anything that we're doing is truly actionable for consumers," Georgiadis told Business Insider in an August interview.

She said that right now, consumer genetic health testing is report-driven. Once a person gets the report, it's often unclear what to do with the information.

"The reality is while people find lab reports interesting, it's not helping them get to action, and that's really what they crave," Georgiadis said in an October interview. "They crave actual insights where they can take steps with their healthcare providers to live longer and healthier lives."

To see where Ancestry could be different, Georgiadis hosted a barbecue in the backyard of her Palo Alto, California, home early in her tenure as CEO, inviting doctors from various medical specialties. The doctors filled her in about the concerns they had about consumer genetics tests and told her what they'd like to see instead.

Read more: Genetic testing is the future of healthcare, but many experts say companies like 23andMe are doing more harm than good

By the end of it, Georgiadis came back to her team with a three-page summary of what Ancestry would have to do. That included making sure Ancestry gave back reports that doctors could do something with. For instance, Ancestry will test for hereditary cancers in which the doctor could take a preventive step, but it won't report on a predisposition for a condition like Alzheimer's where there's not as much a doctor can do for that person.

It also meant AncestryHealth would have to provide a clinical-grade test that could be used by doctors.

"This is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done," Georgiadis recalls telling the team.

What's included in an AncestryHealth test

To order an AncestryHealth test, Ancestry will link consumers up with a doctor via the company PWNHealth. Next, the user will fill in information about their family health history that users can bring to their doctor. After getting the results, they're presented one at a time, incorporating the family health history into the conversation about risk.

From there, users can choose to better understand the results via videos, text, interactive webinars, or directly talking to a genetic counselor. The report can be printed out and taken to a doctor.

It's a different route from what its rival 23andMe has taken. 23andMe's health reports are available directly to consumers once they're cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.

Ancestry plans to offer two health products:

• AncestryHealth Core, which will provide health reports about carrier status for rare conditions parents could pass on to kids, like cystic fibrosis, inherited cancers, and heart disease. It'll also provide wellness information about nutrition and metabolism. Georgiadis characterized it as reports that doctors consider the most actionable. AncestryHealth Core will cost $149, or $49 if users have already taken an Ancestry test.
• AncestryHealth Plus will offer more reports, and the plan is to add additional info over time as the science advances. The test will be run on next-generation sequencing technology rather than the genotyping technology Core and the standard AncestryDNA test is run on. Unlike genotyping, which looks for specific parts of DNA and pieces them together, next-generation sequencing looks at only the protein-encoding parts of your genome, called the exome. The next-generation sequencing analyzes roughly 2% of those 3 billion base pairs. The test will cost $199, which includes six months of quarterly updates and additional educational resources. After that, it's $49 every six months for the quarterly updates, or $100 a year.

Users who have already submitted their spit to Ancestry before don't have to submit a new samples. The products will take about six to eight weeks to report after ordering, even for those who have already taken the Ancestry test. The company said it planned to have the Plus program available widely in 2020. To perform the next-generation sequencing test, Ancestry's partnering with lab-testing firm Quest Diagnostics.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Genealogy giant Ancestry is getting into the business of healthcare.  
• On Tuesday, the company announced two health products: AncestryHealth Core and AncestryHealth Plus, which can help users of the company's DNA test get a sense of their family health history.
• AncestryHealth Core will cost $149 — or $49 if users have already taken an Ancestry test — while Plus will cost $199, and additional quarterly updates after the first six months will cost $49 fee every six months.
• Here's what's included in the reports. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For the first time, family-history website Ancestry will tell you about your genetic health.

On Tuesday, the 36-year-old firm known for its family tree resources announced that it'll offer two new products: AncestryHealth Core and AncestryHealth Plus.

Both will provide information like carrier status for genetic conditions, cancer risk and wellness reports and can help users get a sense of their family health history as well as ancestry. The tests aren't currently available to residents of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. 

Read more:Ancestry's DNA test has traced the family histories of more than 15 million people. Now the genealogy giant wants to map out your health history.

What's included in an AncestryHealth test

To order an AncestryHealth test, Ancestry will link consumers up with a doctor via the company PWNHealth. Next, the user will fill in information about their family health history. Results will be presented one at a time, incorporating the family health history into a conversation about health risks.

From there, users can choose to better understand the results via videos, text, interactive webinars, or directly talking to a genetic counselor. The report can also be printed out and taken to a doctor.

It's a different route than rival 23andMe has taken. 23andMe's health reports are available directly to consumers once they're cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. 

Ancestry plans to offer two health products: 

• AncestryHealth Core, which will provide health reports about carrier status for rare conditions parents could pass on to kids, like cystic fibrosis, inherited cancers, heart disease, and wellness information about nutrition and metabolism. Georgiadis characterized it as reports that doctors consider the most actionable. AncestryHealth Core will cost $149, or $49 if users have already taken an Ancestry test. 
• AncestryHealth Plus will offer more reports and the plan is to add additional info over time as the science advances. The test will be run on next-generation sequencing technology rather than the genotyping technology Core and the standard AncestryDNA test is run on. Unlike genotyping, which looks for specific parts of DNA and pieces them together, next-generation sequencing looks at only the protein-encoding parts of your genome, called the exome. The next-generation sequencing analyzes roughly 2% of those 3 billion base pairs. The test will cost $199, which includes six months of quarterly updates and additional educational resources. After that, it's $49 every six months for the quarterly updates, or $100 a year. 

Users who have already submitted their spit to Ancestry before don't have to submit a new samples. The products will take about 6-8 weeks to report after ordering, even for those who have already taken the Ancestry test. The company said it plans to have the Plus program available widely in 2020. To perform the next-generation sequencing test, Ancestry's partnering with lab-testing firm Quest Diagnostics. 

Here are the conditions the tests will screen for:

• Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. 
• Hereditary colon cancer. 
• Cardiomyopathy, a hereditary disease related to the heart muscle in which it's hard to pump blood through the body, which could lead to heart problems like heart failure.
• Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a condition that elevates the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood. 
• Hereditary Hemochromotosis, a condition in which the body absorbs too much iron. 
• Thrombophilia, an inherited blood clotting disorder. 

Ancestry will also provide carrier screenings for three conditions: 

• Sickle Cell Anemia, a red blood cell disorder. 
• Cystic Fibrosis, a condition that affects the lungs's ability to function. 
• Tay-Sachs Disease, a condition in which the body destroys nerve cells. 

Competitor 23andMe offers many of the same tests for about $200, including carrier status reports for those three conditions, as well as more than 40 others. It also reports predisposition for conditions like familial hypercholesterolemia and some variants associated with inherited breast and ovarian cancer.

23andMe's consumer genetics test can also tell users if they have an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, tests that Ancestry did not choose to include. 

The report also comes with wellness screenings that show based on genetics how individuals might process caffeine or lactose, the sugar found in milk. Here's what's all included:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin C
• Omega-3
• Beta carotene
• Lactose tolerance
• Caffeine Metabolism

• Read more:
• 23andMe can now tell you your risk of developing diabetes, based on your DNA. Here's what doctors want you to know.
• I revisited my AncestryDNA test 3 years later and found some surprising changes to my results
• I've taken AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and National Geographic genetics tests — here's how to choose one to try
• I shipped my spit to AncestryDNA to see how much I could learn from my genes — and found out my family history is more complex than I thought

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• Your DNA holds the story of your lineage as well as a wealth of information about your body in terms of aging, health, and more.
• The AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit is the best DNA testing kit you can buy because it compares your DNA to 500 worldwide regions, helping you create an amazingly accurate picture of your heritage.

Your DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, carries the entire story of your natural past, present, and even your future. It is the very substance of every part of your body, and it is the result of thousands of generations of reproduction and countless instances of mutation. The expression of the genes in your DNA makes you who you are, determining everything from eye color and height to which diseases you might easily defeat and which you need to watch out for. The study of your DNA can also provide a remarkably accurate portrait of your heritage, linking you to pockets of humanity that existed many thousands of years ago in far-flung corners of the world.

Did your ancestors cross the Bering Strait Land Bridge? Do you have some Neanderthal DNA in your makeup? Did your great-great-something sail the Pacific atop an outrigger? These questions and many more can be answered through the use of a DNA kit, and all it takes is a bit of saliva. 

Learning about your genetic ancestry can be both amusing and informative, but DNA test kits can also provide actionable information. With the right kit, you can analyze your results to better understand how your body responds to everything from sugars and alcohol to caffeine. Studying your genes can also help you learn what illnesses you might be susceptible to developing, helping you live a lifestyle that minimizes the chances of their occurrence or at least helping you mitigate symptoms and effects should the condition arise.

We have included DNA test kits that are primarily aimed at studying ancestry alongside those geared toward health and wellness. We have a kit principally intended to determine paternity and we have one that's perfect for the armchair ethnographer. But all the home DNA test kits on our list share a few things in common: They are easy to use, they're reliable, and each will shed new light on that stuff that makes you ... you.

Here are our top picks for the best DNA test kits:

• Best DNA test kit overall: AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit
• Best health-risk predictor DNA test kit: 23andMe DNA Ancestry + Health Kit
• Best low-cost DNA test kit: MyHeritage DNA Test Kit
• Best home paternity DNA test kit: Rapid DNA Testing Paternity DNA Test Kit

Updated on 10/17/2019 by Lisa Sabatini: Updated formatting, prices, and links. Removed Helix DNAFit Test Kit, which has been discontinued.

SEE ALSO: I've taken AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and National Geographic genetics tests — here's how to choose one to try

The best DNA test kit overall

The AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit traces your ethnic mix from 500 global regions, creating a portrait of your lineage that is thorough and precise.

Forget about poring over pages of personal records or scanning the microfiche at the local library. When it comes to putting together your family tree, it's what's in your genes that really counts. While talking to relatives or studying marriage licenses and birth certificates can probably help you trace your personal history back a few generations and might give you a semi-accurate sense of your ethnic heritage, the AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit can link you to no fewer than 500 distinct global regions, creating a precise portrait of your makeup.

Learning about your ethnic heritage is fascinating and fun, and it can even help you understand certain issues that might impact your future, informing you of health conditions to which you might be susceptible. But when you use the AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit, the results actually extend beyond you and those chromosomes of yours.

At the time of this guide update, more than 15 million people have used this kit, and everyone who submits their results has the option of seeing which other users closely match their genetic makeup.

Thus using the AncestryDNA Genetic Testing Kit might reveal the existence of a long-lost aunt, cousin, or even a sibling. Your family is almost surely larger than you know, and a DNA testing kit might just be the perfect way to find someone out there with the same genetic history as you.

Business Insider tried the kit, and we highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about their ancestry. A writer with PCMag called the kit "an easy-to-use tool for exploring your background" and track down relatives.

Pros: Surveys extensive population, helps link users with relatives, easy to use

Cons: Full results require subscription

The best health-risk predictor DNA test kit

The 23andMe DNA Ancestry + Health Kit tells you which illnesses you're predisposed to get and give you a full look at your ancestry.

First, just to make sure you understand the full costs, if you want to get a comprehensive genetic health report using the 23andMe DNA Ancestry + Health Kit, you will need to buy the kit that costs two hundred dollars.

Knowing what diseases you are predisposed to develop can help you live a lifestyle that will help lessen the chances of their appearance and/or help prepare your body fight back. The kit can also tell you which genes you are carrying that might pass on diseases or other genetic traits that could cause issues, helping you in your family planning. 

Even the basic one-hundred-dollar 23andMe DNA Ancestry Kit still gives you lots of interesting and amusing ancestry data. You can also upgrade it if you do decide that you want the health analysis, too.

Spit one gob of saliva into its tube, and you can learn how much Neanderthal DNA you inherited and you can compare your genetic makeup to a few dozen world populations alive today. And when you and a family member each use a 23andMe DNA Ancestry Kit, you can see how much DNA you have in common or how much you differ based on genetics inherited from shared ancestors.

A reporter for Business Insider tried the test and found it very interesting and helpful. An Insider Picks writer gave it to a friend to test and came away impressed by all the information that was gleaned from the test. A Wirecutter review said that the basic 23andMe kit was lower priced than many, but also mentioned that a disproportionate amount of the company's "reference population database" was Euro-centric.

Pros: Great access to information on medical issues, includes data on Neanderthal ancestry

Cons: Additional costs for health info, customer service complaints

The best low-cost DNA test kit

The MyHeritage DNA Test Kit not only costs less than all the other tests on our list, but it also gives you access to all its results without additional fees.

Yes, technically the MyHeritage DNA Test Kit only costs twenty bucks less than two of the other kits on our list, and twenty dollars really isn't a big expense, especially when we're talking about data covering thousands of years of heritage and populations spread across the globe. But let's remember that one of those other kits requires an additional subscription fee for access to full results while the other requires an upgrade cost to get the full picture of your genetic makeup.

With the MyHeritage DNA Test Kit, the purchase price grants you full access to all the info the test gleans about your genes. And in this case, there are two distinct areas the testing covers. First, your MyHeritage DNA Test Kit will give you a detailed snapshot of your ethnic background, including information sourced from 42 regions. Second, the kit has a comprehensive DNA matching feature that can help you locate relatives based on shared genetics.

You can learn about and potentially connect with everyone from a second cousin twice removed to a long-lost sister to a great-great-uncle. And the more people who use this test, the more potential matches it will make in the years to come, no additional fee required for those who have already submitted their genetic data.

A review from TheGadgeteer praised the MyHeritage DNA kit's ease of use and said it is a good way to locate relatives and build a family tree. A FamilyHistoryDaily article noted the system's "wonderful tools to connect your research to your DNA matches."

Pros: Affordable price point, reliable DNA matching tools, large global database

Cons: Long test result wait times

The best home paternity DNA test kit

You can take the Rapid DNA Testing Paternity DNA Test in the privacy of your home to determine the paternity of a child in a matter of weeks.

Paternity testing is rarely something that's done under joyous circumstances. Rather it's usually a step taken in the midst of a tense, potentially heart-rending and complicated period in your life. So you'll appreciate that the Rapid DNA Testing Paternity DNA Test Kit is a discreet testing system that gets quick results.

You'll also appreciate how easy the test is to use, especially as one of the two people being tested will likely be an infant or toddler. With a quick swab of the child's cheek and a swab of the (purported) dad's cheek as well, this test can get paternity results in less than a week. The company promises results in just three business days after they get the test, so if you mail it on Monday, you may well know about paternity before the weekend.

Even more important than the swiftness of the results of the Rapid DNA Testing Paternity DNA Test Kit is the accuracy of the results, though. And of those, you can rest assured. As long as you use it properly, this kit boasts a 99.999% accuracy rating thanks to the quality of the materials used and because every test kit is independently tested twice, with results compared to assure accuracy.

It's also worth noting that the results are sent to you discreetly, so you can process the news in private and choose to share it when you're ready and with whom you choose.

With more than 300 reviews posted, the Rapid DNA Testing Paternity DNA Test Kit has a solid 4-star rating. 

It's important to note that New York residents can't legally obtain this kit without a court order or a request from a physician. 

Pros: Rapid and discreet results, highly accurate testing, painless and easy process

Cons: Cannot be shipped to NY

• US President Donald Trump revealed in a press conference Sunday that US forces had taken with them "substantial parts" of ISIS leader Abu bakr al-Baghdadi's body after he was killed in a US forces raid.
• Trump revealed that "lab technicians" were present at the raid, and some tests were conducted "on site" to establish al-Baghdadi's identity.
• Other tests are believed to have been conducted on the remains US forces took with them.
• Al-Baghdadi killed himself by detonating a suicide belt while being pursued by US forces in an underground tunnel network in northern Syria. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US President Donald Trump didn't hold back from revealing in a press conference Sunday the gruesome details of the US special forces raid in northern Syria that left ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead.

When a reporter asked whether DNA tests had been conducted to establish al-Baghdadi's identity after he detonated a suicide belt with US forces in pursuit, the president replied that tests had been conducted "on site," and US forces had also taken parts of the terrorist leader's body back with them.

"As I said, they brought body parts back with them, etc., etc. There wasn't much left. The — the vest blew up, but there are still substantial pieces that they brought back," Trump said.

The president didn't disclose further details of the processes used to identify al-Baghdadi, but Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that the terrorist leader's head survived the explosion intact, allowing US forces to identify him partly using facial recognition technology.

Experts told The New York Times that new technology the US military and intelligence agencies have invested in can conduct DNA tests in as little as 90 minutes.

Further samples and body parts were used to conduct more tests when US forces returned to their base after completing the raid, said a Pentagon official.

Osama bin Laden was buried at sea to prevent a burial site from becoming a shrine — and al-Baghdadi got a similar treatment

The US treatment of al-Baghdadi's remains in some ways mirrors the treatment of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's remains in 2011, after he was assassinated by US Navy SEALS in a compound in Abbottobad, Pakistan. 

In both cases, the remains were given a burial at sea in compliance with Islamic custom. 

Three US officials told Reuters Monday that the ritual was performed at sea, but did not disclose exactly where, or how long it lasted. Two of the officials said the remains were disposed at sea from an aircraft. 

The US military disposed of Baghdadi's remains "appropriately, in accordance with our (standard operating procedures) and in accordance with the law of armed conflict," U.S. Army General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news briefing on Monday. 

However there were contrasts, as bin Laden's body survived intact from his death by gunfire from US forces and was transported back with US forces for further tests to conclusively establish his identity.

Even as recently as 2011, DNA tests had to be conducted in a lab. NSA files that Edward Snowden leaked to the Washington Post revealed that the DNA tests to confirm bin Laden's identify were done in a lab in Afghanistan eight hours after the raid.

The Obama administration was conscious that if the final burial site of bin Laden were revealed, it could quickly become a site of pilgrimage for Islamist radicals. So the body was transported to the USS Carl Vinson, where traditional procedures for Islamic burial were observed, and the body was tipped into the Arabian Sea.

"A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker," a US defense official said at the time.

Given the nature of al-Baghdadi's demise, it is unlikely the same rituals could have been observed. Bin Laden's body was washed and draped in white sheet before being put in the sea, according to reports. 

Business Insider's David Choi reported that US forces destroyed the building where al-Baghdadi died to prevent it from becoming a shrine.

Editor's note: This post was updated on October 29 to make clear that al-Baghdadi's remains were ultimately buried at sea.

SEE ALSO: Trump says ISIS leader al-Baghdadi died 'whimpering and crying and screaming' after trying to escape through a dead-end tunnel and igniting a suicide vest which killed three children

DON'T MISS: Trump actively tried to derail the 3 biggest things that helped take out ISIS leader al-Baghdadi

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• A DNA test revealed that Hunter Biden was the father of a baby in Arkansas, according to court documents filed on Wednesday in Independence County, Arkansas.
• The baby's mother, Lunden Alexis Roberts, filed a petition to prove paternity in May, asking that Biden pay child support and healthcare for the child.
• After a DNA test revealed Biden was the child's father, Roberts filed court documents asking she be awarded $11,057.80 for the legal fees she incurred in the case. 
• Her lawyers said the costs were incurred "as a direct result of [Biden]'s refusal to continue to support his child and the course of the litigation in this case."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a DNA test revealed Hunter Biden was the father of a baby in Arkansas, the child's mother has asked Biden to pay the $11,000 cost of her paternity case.

According to court documents filed on Wednesday in Independence County, Arkansas, the baby's mother, Lunden Alexis Roberts, spent $11,057.80 trying to prove Biden was the father of her child.

Her lawyers said Roberts incurred the costs "as a direct result of [Biden]'s refusal to continue to support his child and the course of the litigation in this case."

She's asking that the court award her $11,057.80 and "all other just and proper relief to which she might be entitled."

Roberts first filed a paternity case against Biden in May. She said she had been in a relationship with Biden, which resulted in a child that was born in August 2018.

Her paternity petition asked that Biden pay child support and healthcare for the child.

At the time the child was born, Biden was dating his late brother Beau's widow, Hallie Biden. Page Six reported in April that Hunter and Hallie Biden had recently broken up. In May, he married Melissa Cohen.

Wednesday's filing also mentioned Hunter's father Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

The filing said Biden is "considered by some to be the person most likely to win his party's nomination and challenge President Trump on the ballot in 2020."

It also noted that members of the Biden family are protected by the US Secret Service, suggesting that the child would also need protection.

• Read more:
• The life of Hunter Biden: How Joe Biden's middle child landed in Trump's impeachment inquiry and a paternity scandal of his own
• A mother who claims Hunter Biden fathered her child went public with a DNA test because he stopped paying child support, lawyers say
• A DNA test revealed Hunter Biden fathered a baby with another woman while he was dating his brother's widow
• A Ukraine gas company tied to Joe Biden's son is at the center of the Trump-whistleblower scandal

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Consumers aren't flocking to send their spit into genetic testing companies in as high a numbers as the industry expected. 
• "The market's been down and we don't see that coming back next year," Vijay Kumar, an analyst at Evercore ISI said.
• In its wake, consumer genetics companies are starting to get creative to handle the lull. 
• Subscribe to Dispensed, Business Insider's weekly healthcare newsletter.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

For years, the hot gift at the holiday season has been DNA test kits.

That's helped consumer genetics companies like Ancestry and 23andMe grow to massive scales — with more than 15 million and 10 million users respectively who've shipped off their spit with the hopes of learning more about their family trees, genetic traits, or even some health information. 

Along the way, there have been been flags raised about ethics and privacy, along with a slew of  tough questions about identity and family.

Still, for years, it seemed like interest in genetic testing was only increasing. But this year, the companies are starting to run into a slowdown.

The first warning was raised by Illumina, the genetics giant that makes all the tech these companies uses to read info about your genes. On an earnings call in July, the company noted "softness" in the market. 

"We have previously based our DTC expectations on customer forecasts, but given unanticipated market softness, we are taking an even more cautious view of the opportunity in the near-term," said CEO Francis deSouza during Illumina's second quarter earnings call. The company repeated the sentiment in its third-quarter earnings report in October. 

That's not expected to change anytime soon.

"The market's been down and we don't see that coming back next year," Vijay Kumar, an analyst at Evercore ISI who covers Illumina told Business Insider. 

As demand recedes, consumer genetics companies have spent the past year grappling with what comes next. Genealogy giant Ancestry has been moving into health, a market it hadn't previously touched. 23andMe has been reckoning with evolving its business model beyond a one-time test. Helix, a company that had ambitions of being the "app store" for genetics, has been pivoting away from the consumer market toward health systems willing to foot the bill for their patients. 

"The fad's over," Luke Sergott, an analyst at Evercore ISI told Business Insider. 

Why convincing consumers to spit into a tube hasn't been as easy as expected

One big concern weighing on the market is the privacy of your genetic information, Sergott said. Sergott recounted a time when he got tests for his whole family, but one of his family members didn't want to send in a sample.

That means that after a surge of interest from early adopters, using ancestry reports as a way to convince people to dip their toes into the DNA-test market might be drying up.  

"My personal view is that the ancestry segment itself, the genealogy segment, is not something that everyone is going to want. We may be seeing a point where most people who are interested in that have gotten in already," said Justin Kao the cofounder and senior vice president of business development and strategy at Helix. "I think a lot of players in the field are looking for what's next."

In the past few years there's also the concern of what happens if this information gets into the wrong hands. In June, laboratory giants Quest and LabCorp reported massive data breaches, in which the billing information of millions of patients was compromised.

And then there's the issue of what to do once you get health-related results. While there are clear steps to take after getting some of the results like certain cancer mutations that have been shown to respond to certain drugs, some of the tests also report on risks for conditions like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, neurodegenerative diseases that have few treatments. For conditions like those, there's not a lot you can do with that information proactively, Sergott said.

"When you think like 5, 10 years out and the clinical utility really opens across cancer, across all rare diseases and just disease in general, then it really makes sense for every general consumer to go and get sequence because then you can take it to the doctor," Sergott said.

At that point, the doctor could ideally keep tabs on the disease for early prevention, he said. 

Later down the line, ways of taking genetic information to inform preventive healthcare will be key, if medical science advances tgo the point where we can do that.

"It will ultimately be the bridge that takes us from a reactive healthcare paradigm to a proactive healthcare paradigm," Sergott said.

Ancestry's move into healthcare

In October, Ancestry launched its first health products, an area it's long avoided in favor of sticking with genealogy reports. 

The company has started selling a new health product, AncestryHealth Core, and plans to offer a second, AncestryHealth Plus in 2020. Both products will provide information like carrier status for genetic conditions, cancer risk, and wellness reports and can help users get a sense of their family health history as well as ancestry. Unlike tests from rivals like 23andMe, Ancestry will require a doctor to be involved in ordering the tests and interpreting the results. 

When it comes to the slowdown in the market, Ancestry CEO Margo Georgiadis isn't fazed, citing people's curiosities to understand their family histories. 

"That innate interest I don't think is going to go away," Georgiadis told Business Insider in an onstage interview at the HLTH conference in Las Vegas.

She acknowledge the challenge of convincing consumers to send in incredibly personal information at a time when there are massive questions about privacy in both the healthcare and technology industries.

"There is no question that all the broader conversation about privacy in the technology industry, I think has left some consumers on the fence," Georgiadis said. "It's our job to help consumers fill the confidence and provide the product innovation that gets the market to continue to grow."

The company is also hoping that paying a subscription fee for updates to reports could be a way to a sustainable business. Through the AncestryHealth Plus product, the hope is to have users pay roughly $100 a year for quarterly updates with new insights about their health. 

23andMe is confronting the lull head-on

23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki is fully aware of the challenges her company is facing going into the next decade. 

"It's a new technology, and I think it's hit a lull," Wojcicki told Business Insider in an October interview on the sidelines of the HLTH conference. 

She attributes that in large part to privacy concerns coming in from the tech industry, or what she calls the "Facebook Effect."

But in the meantime, she's preparing for what to do during a time when there's a lull as an organization. 

"We're not going to hire as aggressively, we will be more cautious about our resources," Wojcicki said.

It'll also require looking critically at 23andMe's business model, as historically a company that provides a genetics test "The business model has definitely evolved. Because it was very much about one and done, and we still see a lot of our customers as being super engaged."

How that plays out is up in the air, but Wojcicki pointed to 23andMe's My Health Action Plan, a feature the company launched in June as a first step toward finding new ways to engage consumers beyond reports. For instance, the Action Plan feature might suggest consulting your doctor about getting blood sugar tests if you have a predisposition for diabetes and list out recommendations for lifestyle changes consistent with national guidelines.  

Ultimately, she's optimistic that the lull will be temporary.

"I think it's going to come back," Wojcicki said. "Genetic testing is here to stay, and the market's barely tapped." 

Genetic tests have made their way into popular culture, a reason to contend that the business is here to stay, with the potential for more people to get comfortable with sending in their spit in the future. 

For instance, in her song "Truth Hurts," Lizzo sings the line "I just took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that b---h," referencing the genealogy reports companies like 23andMe provide. 

On Halloween, Lizzo donned a costume that evoked a bejeweled 23andMe test kit. The results inside were, of course, "100% that b---h."

And Wojcicki has joined in on the fun. In September, she posted a tweet that read "#JustookaDNAtest and turns out I'm 49% that b---h! At least I'm 49% related to you @Lizzo!   #23andMe #TruthHurts." The tweet had an accompanying screenshot of her 'test' results from a site powered by Spotify. 

"One of the things I'm super proud of and I really love is that genetics is a part of pop culture now," Wojcicki said.

Pivoting to health systems is Helix's strategy

When Illumina spun out Helix in 2015 with $100 million in funding, it had the lofty goal of becoming something like an "app store" for your genetics. That is, instead of sending in new samples for each test, Helix could reanalyze the sample again and again for different tests — whether for ancestry, wine preferences, wellness, or more health-focused screens. 

 The "app store" officially launched in 2017, at which point Helix appealed to consumers directly to send in their samples. That ultimately didn't pan out. 

"Because the online acquisition has consolidated so much around primarily Google and Facebook, user acquisition one by one has gotten harder and harder," Kao, the Helix cofounder said.

It's not easy to go around explaining to people what distinguishes Helix from other companies who run their tests on different data, he said. Unlike genotyping, which looks for specific parts of DNA and pieces them together, next-generation sequencing like Helix uses looks at only the protein-encoding parts of your genome, called the exome. Ideally, that set of information is more complete than genotyping, giving a broader picture of patient's genetic health information.

Working with partners instead has helped Helix extend its reach. For instance, in 2018, Helix started supplying tests for the Healthy Nevada Project.In the first four days, 10,000 people signed up to submit their samples using Helix's collection kits, Kao said. 

In May, the company cut its workforce. Kao said most of those cuts came from the direct digital marketing and advertising teams. Instead, Helix has staffed up more into working with health systems to cover the cost of the test, rather than going directly to consumers. 

By working with health systems to cover the cost of the test, the hope is to broaden the number of people who might have access beyond those who could get insurance coverage for clinical tests. 

Helix isn't alone at testing out enterprise channels.

Color, a consumer genetics company that provides a physician-ordered test, has been partnering with health systems and life-sciences companies like Verily to provide genetic screenings. Invitae, another provider of genetic tests, works with health systems as well to provide the test. 

"Our belief is that health itself will always be the killer app for genetics," Kao said. There, it's an advantage to have a direct relationship with a provider, Kao said. Over time, perhaps individuals will get more comfortable accessing the health information provided in a genetics test on their own, he said. "I just don't think that market's there yet," Kao said. 

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Hello,

Welcome to a very special mid-week edition of Dispensed, in which the smell of pies baking is already starting to fill the air and we're looking forward to a long weekend filled with Thanksgiving treats.

Are you new to the newsletter? You can sign up here. 

Allow us to fuel some conversations for your weekends with family and friends.

At HLTH, I spoke with 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki and Ancestry CEO Margo Georgiadis, and one of the big questions I had was about the "softness" hitting the direct-to-consumer genetics market.

The market for consumer genetics — while making its way into pop culture, thanks, Lizzo — hasn't grown at the clip companies expected it to. 

Here's a look at their respective strategies — as well as a check-in with what's going on at Helix, which initially set out to be the "app store" of genetics for consumers. 

The DNA-testing 'fad' is ending. We spoke to the CEOs of Ancestry and 23andMe about how they're fighting back.

• Consumers aren't flocking to send their spit into genetic testing companies in as high a numbers as the industry expected.
• "The market's been down and we don't see that coming back next year," Vijay Kumar, an analyst at Evercore ISI said.
• In its wake, consumer genetics companies are starting to get creative to handle the lull. 

I've also personally shipped my spit off to a number of these players. In time for the inevitable holiday rush, here's my most recent thoughts about what you should keep in mind when sending in a spit sample (beyond, of course, the privacy considerations). 

You can find more detailed reviews of what I learned from 23andMe and Ancestry here. 

It's Clarrie Feinstein's final day with us as her fellowship wraps up! We're going to miss having her in the office. 

For her final post, she profiled a company looking to change the way radiologists practice. 

A self-driving car pioneer teamed up with a doctor to create a healthcare AI startup that just raised $16.5 million to upend radiology

• Nines Radiology is focused on using technology, including artificial intelligence, to help radiologists.
• Nines was cofounded by David Stavens, a self-driving car pioneer and Dr. Alexander Kagen, a New York City radiologist.
• The company has created a product that is supposed to help radiologists prioritize their time for patients most in need of treatment and diagnose them faster.  The product, called the Emergent Neuro Suite, is now under FDA review.

Elsewhere, Joseph Zeballos-Roig took a look at an important element of the Medicare for All debate: how much doctors and hospitals will get paid. He spoke to folks who ran through the caveats that will need to be kept in mind during what would likely be a bumpy transition. 

Medicare for All's thorniest issue is how much to pay doctors and hospitals. Any new system could become a convoluted mess if it goes wrong.

Allana Akhtar, Business Insider's jobs reporter, spoke with nurses who told her which questions patients shouldn't hesitate to ask their doctors. 

Nurses reveal the 7 questions you should never be afraid to ask your doctor

• Nurses revealed seven questions to always ask your doctor during a visit.
• They suggest patients advocate for themselves, as diagnostic errors (or mistakes doctors can make with treatment plans) affect 1 in 20 adults each year.
• Nurses also say if they suggest getting a second opinion, it can sometimes mean they personally don't trust the doctor and would encourage you get more information.

Zach Tracer and I will be at the Forbes Healthcare Summit in New York next Thursday. Be sure to say hi if you see us milling about! As always, you can reach me at lramsey@businessinsider.com and the entire healthcare team at healthcare@businessinsider.com. 

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. This year, I'm grateful for you, dear readers. See you in December!

- Lydia

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• Sales are slowing for leading direct-to-consumer genetics testing sites AncestryDNA and 23andMe, Business Insider's Lydia Ramsey reported.
• Despite sales projections for genetics testing companies, ancestry tourism is still booming.
• In 2018 and 2019, major hospitality brands including Airbnb and Cunard entered the ancestry travel space, offering trips and recommendations based on DNA tests. 
• Luxury Travel Magazine predicted this month that ancestry tourism will be "one of 2020's fastest-growing sectors."
• Ancestry travel is part of the larger search for meaningful travel.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Over the past decade, millions of people have used genetics kits to identify their roots.

Since launching in 2007 and 2012, industry leaders 23andMe and AncestryDNA have gained 10 million and 15 million users respectively.

The process for consumers is a simple one: Spit into the kit tube, send it off in the mail, and within a few weeks, receive a detailed report on where your ancestors came from — or in the case of 23andMe, genetic predispositions as well. The kits are also affordable: AncestryDNA's currently start at $59, and 23andMe's start at $79.

The golden age of at-home DNA tests, however, may be nearing its end. Earlier this week, Business Insider's Lydia Ramsey reported that the demand for these sub-$100 tests is plateauing.

"The fad's over," Luke Sergott, an analyst at Evercore ISI, told Ramsey. Sergott noted that many people have taken the test and are looking for the next best thing. Concerns over privacy and ethics are two other reasons why sales may be slowing. 

One trend that these DNA tests have spawned does not seem to be seeing the same slowdown: Ancestry tourism — or traveling to the places where your family and ancestors lived — has been on the rise, and it's still gaining momentum.

2018 and 2019 were big years for ancestry tourism

Ancestry travel has experienced a boom over the past several years.

In fall 2017, Go Ahead Tours and Ancestry DNA partnered to offer customized heritage trips featuring hand-picked hotels and on-hand Ancestry genealogists. In 2018, luxury cruise ship operator Cunard launched its "Journey of Genealogy" series in collaboration AncestryDNA. The inaugural trip was a seven-night cruise from Southampton in the United Kingdom to New York's Ellis Island.  

And in May, Airbnb announced a partnership with 23andMe in which the hospitality giant provides users with custom travel and experience recommendations.

DNA travel has become increasingly popular, Airbnb said in its announcement of the collaboration: "Since 2014, the number of travelers using Airbnb for tracing their roots increased by 500 percent, and 78 percent of these trips are taken in pairs or solo, suggesting that these are introspective journeys or an important moment to share with a significant other."

Independent tour operators have also hopped on the ancestry travel bandwagon with new heritage-based tour offerings. Small-group adventure travel company Classic Journeys offers to match travelers with trips after reviewing their DNA results from23andMe, AncestryDNA or another provider. Luxury service The Conte Club designs travel experiences that can span weeks and cost as much as $132,000 based on DNA tests.

Ancestry tourism is behind a forthcoming hotel boom in Warsaw and a cruise designed to replicate the Mayflower voyage

According to Luxury Travel Magazine's travel predictions for the new decade, "ancestry travel is one of 2020's fastest-growing sectors." 

In May, Airbnb noted that travelers who have expressed the most interest in ancestry tourism are from places "typically known for their history of immigration." These include the U.S., Canada, Australia, mainland China, the UK, France, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Brazil.

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, a time when many Poles fled Eastern Europe, Poland is preparing for an uptick in ancestry travelers. Over a dozen new hotels, including a new branch of Robert De Niro's Nobu Hotels, are set to open in Warsaw next year, Luxury Travel Magazine reports. 

Cunard is looking ahead to another immigration anniversary: the quatercentenary of the Mayflower voyage. In August, the cruise ship operator will be offering a journey on the Queen Mary 2 that replicates the English Puritans' journey to the New World.

While Airbnb says travelers between the ages of 60 and 90 are "most likely to take heritage travel trips," the preference for ancestry travel may be skewing younger. 

"[Home DNA tests are] much more approachable to the younger generation than sitting in front of a computer screen or [microfilm reader] trying to do family history," Dallen Timothy, a professor at Arizona State University and editor of the Journal of Heritage Tourism told Business Destinations in April. "This trend is likely broadening the genealogy tourism market by attracting younger generations."

Ancestry tourism is part of the larger search for meaning in travel

Travelers are transitioning from looking for local experiences to seeking experiences that fundamentally change them, Chris Roche, business director of luxury safari company Wilderness Holdings, told Business Insider's Katie Warren.

"'Experiential' would've been the buzzword five years ago," Roche said. "The last couple of years, that's transitioned into 'transformational.'"

This search for meaning is redefining the travel space, Warren noted, citing the Global Wellness Summit's 2018 trends report.

Robin Hauck, director of Business Development and Partnerships with Go Ahead Tours, told NBC last winter that AncestryDNA had been hearing from an increasing number of customers that they wanted to bring the results of their kit to life. "It's just so important for people to fill in in actual living color where they're from and how their ancestors lived. It makes people feel more complete," he said. 

Rebecca Fielding, CEO of The Conte Club, echoed Hauck in conversation with Conde Nast Traveller, noting that ancestry trips are a deep dive into one's identity.

"It can be a complicated and emotional process, but the journey into our own past might be the most meaningful trip we can take," she said.

SEE ALSO: The genetic testing business is stuck in a slump. We spoke to industry giants Ancestry and 23andMe about how they're preparing for a comeback

NOW READ: Living like a local was the big travel trend 5 years ago. Now, travelers want their experiences to be life-changing, and it's ushering in a new era of 'transformational travel.'

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• Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims to have made the first genetically edited babies in the world using CRISPR technology, has been sentenced to three years in prison. 
• Many scientists, ethicists, and government officials have criticized He, calling his research unethical and dangerous.
• After presenting his findings at an international summit in November 2018, He vanished from public view until reports claimed he was being detained at a university guesthouse.
• On Monday, state media reported that He has been sentenced to three years in prison and faces a $430,000 fine. Two of his colleagues also face prison time. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In November 2018, a Chinese scientist claimed he had made the first genetically-edited babies in the world, causing sharp criticism from other scientists, ethicists, and government officials.

The scientist, He Jiankui, used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-cas9, which is considered risky because it can inadvertently change a large portion of a person's DNA and have unintended consequences.

He, who worked on the experiment with US scientist Michael Deem, said he edited a gene called CCR5. The gene forms a "doorway" that allows HIV to enter cells, and turning it off makes people resistant to being infected in the future.

Even if everything went according to plan, the babies could be at greater risk of future health problems. The Associated Press reported that people without a regular CCR5 gene are more likely to catch the West Nile virus and die from the flu. 

Read more:Bill Gates says it would be a 'tragedy' to pass up a controversial, revolutionary gene-editing technology

Many of He's colleagues — including more than 120 Chinese scientists— have criticized He for choosing this route, saying there are plenty of ways to prevent HIV without putting someone in danger.

He has denied the twin girls were harmed.

He has been the subject of several investigations. On Monday, Chinese state media outlets reported that He has been sentenced to three years in prison and faces a $430,000 fine for his work. Two of his colleagues also face prison time for their involvement. 

Take a look at this timeline explaining the controversy surrounding He's research.

An initial version of this post was written by Peter Kotecki and has been updated. 

On November 26, 2018, He told an organizer of an international genome editing conference that he had altered the DNA of two baby girls. The Chinese scientist claimed he had altered the embryos for seven different couples, though only one person was pregnant as of November.

He said his goal was not to cure an inherited disease or even to prevent one. Instead, he wanted the babies to have a specific trait: the ability to resist an HIV infection.

His claims had not been corroborated by other experts or published in a journal before the scientist came forward. 

The university he worked at called for an investigation into He's research and said his work "seriously violated academic ethics and standards."

It was not immediately clear if the participants had known what He wanted to do. The Associated Press reported that consent forms called his project an "AIDS vaccine development" program.

He described his research at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing on November 28 in Hong Kong. He said he felt "proud" and noted that a third gene-edited baby could be born as a result of his work.

The researcher said "yes"when asked if the pregnancy was in an early stage, but he did not provide any more information.

He also said he submitted his research to a scientific journal for review, but he did not specify which publication he reached out to.

Southern University of Science and Technology of China in Shenzhen, where He conducted research, released a statement saying He's experiment was done "outside of the campus and was not reported to the University nor the Department."

Rice University, where Deem is listed as a professor of bioengineering, told STAT that it opened an investigation into the experiment.

China said on November 29, 2018 that it had suspended He's work, adding that his behavior seemed to violate Chinese law.

China's vice minister of science and technology, Xu Nanping, said He was still under investigation, but news reports had made it seem like he violated laws and broke "the bottom line of morality and ethics that the academic community adheres to,"The New York Times reported.

He was initially supposed to speak again at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, but his November 29 talk was canceled.

Robin Lovell-Badge — a British scientist who helped organize the summit — said He had chosen not to attend after learning that it would have been tough to find enough security for the event, The Times reported.

Lovell-Badge told The Times he did not regret allowing He to present his research at the summit, but giving him a second chance to speak may have been perceived as showing support.

Over the first weekend of December 2018, a local news outlet reported that He had been apprehended by the university and brought back to Shenzhen.

Several US publicationscited the Hong Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily, which reported that He was "under house arrest" in Shenzhen. 

The university denied on December 3, 2018 that it had detained He, but the scientist was not seen in public for about a month after the summit.

Source: Business Insider

He was spotted on the balcony of a university guesthouse in Shenzhen on December 26. Two days later, The New York Times reported that about a dozen guards were standing outside the apartment.

It was the first sighting of He since the conference in Hong Kong.

He has been living in a fourth-floor apartment at the guesthouse, which is located on the Southern University of Science and Technology campus, The Times reported.

The scientist could be seen speaking with a woman who was carrying a baby, according to The Times. She appeared to be his wife.

Hotel staff confirmed to The Times that He was staying in the apartment, but The Times did not know if the guards had an affiliation with police or university officials. They did not identify themselves.

Chen Peng, a co-founder of the gene-testing company Vienomics, told The Times that he had spoken to He after the summit.

"He is safe," Chen told The Times. "But I don't know his exact whereabouts or what state he is in."

In January, STAT reported that He has been communicating with Lovell-Badge and another scientist who attended the summit. He had read Western news reports about himself and said he was doing well.

He told William Hurlbut, a neuroscientist and bioethicist at Stanford University, that he moved into the guesthouse "by mutual agreement,"STAT reported. 

The Chinese scientist said he is able to leave the guesthouse when he wants, adding that he has walked outside and visited the building's gym.

"He didn't convey to me that he finds the guards a constraining force at all, but instead feels they are protecting him," Hurlbut said, adding that He was concerned about threatening emails he had gotten in response to his experiment.

The scientist has reportedly received death threats since speaking at the summit.

STAT also reported that He has exchanged emails with Lovell-Badge, the summit organizer who works as a scientist at the Francis Crick Institute in London. He reportedly told Lovell-Badge that scientists who say his experiment would make the babies more likely to die from the flu are drawing conclusions from ambiguous research.

Over the summer, a third baby gene-edited using Crispr was born.

MIT Technology Review in July reported that a third genetically modified baby was due. The court that sentenced He to three years in prison confirmed the birth of the third baby in its filing. 

On December 30, a Chinese court sentenced He to three years in prison.

The court on Monday sentenced He and two of his colleagues to time in prison, concluding that the three violated Chinese regulations, practiced medicine without a license, and crossed an ethical line with their use of the Crispr gene-editing technology on embryos to make them resistant to HIV. 

He was also fined $430,000, according to Xinhua.

• Read more about CRISPR technology:
• Watch science writer Carl Zimmer explain CRISPR in 90 seconds
• A blockbuster gene editing tool could cause more damage than experts thought
• CRISPR, the gene-editing tech that's making headlines, explained in one graphic

• The Pentagon has advised US troops to avoid genetic-testing kits out of concern their personal information could be compromised.
• The companies that perform the testing say the information they gather is stored securely, but the Pentagon says direct-to-consumer testing is "largely unregulated."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US troops are being advised to steer clear of popular genetic-testing kits over what Pentagon leaders say is a growing concern that the personal information could be exploited or tracked.

Top military brass received a memo last week warning them that some genetic testing companies are encouraging Defense Department personnel to buy genetic-ancestry or health-information products by offering military discounts.

But the direct-to-consumer DNA tests are "largely unregulated," the memo states, potentially leaving their personal data or genetic information at risk. That, the memo adds, could "create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission."

The memo was signed by Joseph Kernan, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and James Stewart, the assistant secretary of defense for manpower and Reserve affairs. Military.com obtained a copy of the memo, whichYahoo News first reported on last week.

"Until notified otherwise, DoD military personnel are advised to refrain from the purchase and/or use of [direct-to-consumer] genetic services," Kernan and Stewart wrote.

Military.com first reported in July that at least one top military leader was concerned about the mail-in kits. Former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in July that troops need to "be careful who they send your DNA to."

"There's a number of those companies where you can go and find out what your makeup is. That's a lot of information," Richardson said. "You learn a lot about yourself, and so does the company who's doing it."

Defense Department officials did not respond to a question about whether Richardson's warning led to a review of the Pentagon's policy on mail-in ancestry and genetics kits.

The new memo doesn't specify how military readiness could be at risk if troops use off-the-shelf genetic-testing kits, citing only "increased concern in the scientific community that outside parties are exploiting the use of the genetic data for questionable purposes."

That includes "mass surveillance and the ability to track individuals without their authorization or awareness," the memo adds.

Elissa Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said the memo was sent to ensure all service members are aware of the risks that could come with the tests.

"The unintentional discovery of markers that may affect readiness could affect a service member's career, and the information from [direct-to-consumer] genetic testing may disclose this information," she said. "Testing performed by DTC companies may or may not provide reliable, accurate results. Because of this, until further assessment, it is advised that service members receive this information from a licensed professional rather than a consumer product."

Two popular companies that offer mail-in DNA tests — Ancestry and 23andMe — say protecting consumers' data is a top priority. And neither, according to company officials, are currently offering military discounts.

Gina Spatafore, a spokeswoman forAncestry, said the company doesn't share customer data with insurers, employers or third-party marketers. The company also protects personal information from law enforcement unless it is compelled to share the data "by valid legal process, such as a court order or search warrant."

Katie Watson, vice president of communications at23andMe, said no customer information is shared with third parties without separate, explicit consent from its customers.

"Customers are in control of how their data is shared, and how their data is stored," she said. "They can choose to have their sample stored at our lab, or have it destroyed. They can also download their information and close their account at any time."

Ancestry.com, Spatafore said, was the first in the industry to set a self-governed policy framework for the collection, protection, sharing and use of data collected by consumer genomics companies.

"Ancestry recognizes our responsibility to lead by example and set the bar for industry innovation," she said. "For that reason, we partnered with the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), and other personal genomic testing companies to release the Privacy Best Practices for Consumer Genetic Testing Services."

Sensitive data from 23andMe is encrypted, Watson said, and only essential company personnel have access to the information.

Steven Block, a biology and applied physics professor at Stanford University, told Military.com this summer that while people should be mindful that any database that stores their personal data could be hacked, companies such as Ancestry or 23andMe tend to store only a limited amount of data — about 1/1,000th of a person's full DNA.

"If you have the physical swab, then you have a sample of the complete DNA information for the individual, and the potential to do much more with that than, say, the sort of limited information that ancestry-kit companies collect and store," he said.

— Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter@ginaaharkins.

SEE ALSO: The Corps is offering up to $40,000 in extra cash to Marines willing to do psychological operations

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NOW WATCH: I tried 23andMe and Helix to find out which DNA test would guess my ancestry more accurately

• Phosphorus is key in forming DNA and giving rise to life on Earth, but the element is rare in the universe.
• Scientists don't know how Earth got its phosphorus, but scientists just found phosphorus-carrying molecules forming around newborn stars. 
• Researchers found the same molecules on a comet orbiting Jupiter.
• A new study suggests that comets from newborn stars may have delivered the life-giving element to Earth in the form of phosphorus monoxide.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Phosphorus, an element that's key in forming DNA and fueling life on Earth, may have first arrived on the planet via comets from newborn stars.

Since the element is extremely rare in the universe, its presence on Earth has been a long-standing mystery. But scientists at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) now suggest that phosphorus may have first arrived on Earth in the molecule phosphorus monoxide – phosphorus bonded with one oxygen molecule.

Their research, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Wednesday, reveals that phosphorus monoxide forms amid the birth of new stars. They also found the molecule in a comet circling Jupiter: a frozen ball of rock and ice called 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, or "67P" for short.

The discovery suggests comets could have carried phosphorus monoxide to Earth.

"Phosphorus is essential for life as we know it," Kathrin Altwegg, an author of the new study, said in a press release. "As comets most probably delivered large amounts of organic compounds to the Earth, the phosphorus monoxide found in comet 67P may strengthen the link between comets and life on Earth."

Phosphorus-carrying molecules form as stars are born

Phosphorus is rare in the universe but essential to life (in most cases). It acts as glue that holds together the chains of nucleotides that make up DNA. Phosphorus also helps build cell walls and store cells' energy. 

To figure out how the element arrived on Earth, astronomers turned to the stars. 

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the scientists behind the new study looked at a star-forming region called AFGL 5142. Studying the wavelengths of light coming from that distant region allowed them to determine which kinds of molecules interact with that light.

They found phosphorus-carrying molecules forming around the new stars.

Stars are born when clouds of gas and dust collapse, giving into gravity and coalescing into new cosmic objects. When massive stars are still young, they send out flows of gas that open huge cavities in the clouds of interstellar dust around them.

Scientists think molecules with phosphorus begin to form on the walls of these cavities as they're pummeled with radiation from the young, massive stars.

But even after pinpointing a potential origin for phosphorus-carrying molecules in the universe, a big question remained: How did those molecules travel to Earth?

Comets could have carried phosphorus monoxide

The researchers turned to data from a spacecraft called Rosetta, which orbited the 67P comet from August 2014 to September 2016.

Astronomers had already found traces of phosphorus in data Rosetta gathered about 67P, but they hadn't determined which molecule the element was part of. Then, Altwegg said, an astronomer at a conference made a suggestion: "She said that phosphorus monoxide would be a very likely candidate, so I went back to our data, and there it was."

Phosphorus monoxide can end up in comets after the walls of a newborn star's surrounding cavity collapse. The molecule can get trapped in frozen grains of dust that circle the new star, some of which eventually coalesce into comets.

Astronomers think that comets may have delivered other chemical components of life, such as amino acids and even water, to early Earth as well. Phosphorus seems to be yet another life-giving element that the space snowballs brought when they pummeled the planet.

SEE ALSO: We're likely to find alien life in the next decade, scientists say. Here's where NASA plans to look — in our solar system and beyond.

DON'T MISS: A stunning animation by a planetary scientist shows how huge our solar system is — and why that makes it so hard to depict

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NOW WATCH: A close-up look at the rare eruption in space that no one was expecting

• 23andMe is laying off 100 amid a slowdown in the consumer genetics market, CNBC first reported Thursday. 
• The layoffs hit departments across the organization in an effort to scale back on work that isn't core to the consumer testing and therapeutics businesses, a company spokesman told Business Insider.
• It's happening at a time when sales of genetics tests have disappointed, with Wall Street signalling that the consumer genetics "fad" is over. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

DNA-testing giant 23andMe is laying off about 14% of its staff, the latest sign of a slump in the business.

About 100 employees have been let go in departments across the organization in an effort to scale back on work that isn't core to the consumer testing and therapeutics businesses that 23andMe operates, a spokesman told Business Insider. The therapeutics team was not impacted by the layoffs, he said.

CNBC's Christina Farr reported on the layoffs earlier on Thursday.

23andMe will also be scaling back on its work recruiting for clinical trials, the spokesman said. 

Over the past few years, genetic tests have grown in popularity. That's helped consumer genetics companies like 23andMe grow to 10 million users who've shipped off their spit with the hopes of learning more about their family trees, genetic traits, or even some health information. 

Along the way, there have been been flags raised about ethics and privacy, along with a slew of tough questions about identity and family.

Still, for years, it seemed like interest in genetic testing was only increasing. But in 2019, the companies started to run into a slowdown.

Read more: The DNA-testing 'fad' is over, and one company just halted operations. The CEOs of Ancestry and 23andMe reveal how they're fighting back.

The first warning was raised by Illumina, the company that makes all the tech that's used to read info about your genes. On an earnings call in July, the company noted "softness" in the market. 

And in December, Veritas Genetics, a company that provides whole-genome sequencing for $600, said it had suspended its US operations, citing issues raising additional funding. 

"It's a new technology, and I think it's hit a lull," 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki told Business Insider in an October interview on the sidelines of a conference.

She attributed that in large part to privacy concerns coming in from the tech industry, or what she calls the "Facebook Effect."

You can read more about the challenges the DNA-testing industry is facing here. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The biggest volcano eruptions in recorded history

• Police in Miami, Florida, have arrested 60-year-old Robert Koehler, who they believe raped 44 women in the 1980s. 
• Police only found Koehler after his son was arrested on an unrelated case and his DNA matched a sample held by police as evidence connected to a 1983 rape case. 
• Koehler was arrested after police analyzed his DNA by following him to a public place and swabbing things he had touched. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Police in Florida have arrested a 60-year-old man they believe to be a criminal dubbed the "Pillowcase Rapist," who's accused of raping at least 44 women in the early 1980s.

Police in Miami, Florida, were led to Robert Koehler after his son was arrested on an unrelated, undisclosed charge, and his DNA was found to match a DNA sample that had been held by investigators for 37 years as evidence in a 1983 rape case, according to the Miami Herald.

Koehler, a 60-year-old who lives Palm Bay, was arrested last weekend and has been charged with two felony counts of sexual battery.

While he's only been charged in two cases, police believe he raped more than 40 women in South Florida between 1981 and 1986

The nickname "Pillowcase Rapist" was given after victims said their attacker broke into their homes, shielded his or their faces with a pillowcase, and raped them at knifepoint.

The alleged rapist went undetected for years while police posted flyers across Florida and questioned hundreds of suspects.

After the DNA sample that had been held for decades was connected to Koehler, police followed him to a public area and obtained DNA swabs from things he had touched, according to an affidavit seen by CNN. The affidavit said samples led to a probable cause for his arrest.

Police still have to collect DNA directly from Koehler's body and confirm it matches the evidence from 1983.

Koehler made an appearance in court on Tuesday, where he told a judge he was not guilty.

• Read more:
• Ex-Maryland police officer has been charged with raping and attempting to transmit HIV to a woman he pulled over
• Police say Antonio Brown has locked himself in his home after an alleged battery incident involving his trainer and a moving truck driver
• Fotis Dulos and his lawyer are now being accused of planning to kill each other's wives in a plot straight out of a Hitchcock movie
• Aaron Hernandez's casual prison behavior 'chilled' guards, according to a new Netflix documentary showing how he lived a double life of NFL stardom and murder

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.

• Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll, who has accused President Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s, are seeking a DNA sample.
• Notice was served to a Trump attorney Thursday requesting a sample for "analysis and comparison against unidentified male DNA present on the dress."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for a woman who accuses President Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter.

Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll's lawyers served notice to a Trump attorney Thursday for Trump to submit a sample on March 2 in Washington for "analysis and comparison against unidentified male DNA present on the dress."

Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in November after the president denied her allegation. Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, then had the black wool coat-style dress tested. A lab report with the legal notice says DNA found on the sleeves was a mix of at least four people, at least one of them male.

Several other people were tested and eliminated as possible contributors to the mix, according to the lab report, which was obtained by The Associated Press. Their names are redacted.

While the notice is a demand, such demands often spur court fights requiring a judge to weigh in on whether they will be enforced. The Associated Press sent a message to Trump's attorney seeking comment.

Carroll accused Trump last summer of raping her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

In a New York magazine piece in June and a book published the next month, Carroll said she and Trump met by chance, chatted and went to the lingerie department for Trump to pick out a gift for an unidentified woman. She said joking banter about trying on a bodysuit ended in a dressing room, where she said Trump reached under her black wool dress, pulled down her tights and raped her as she tried to fight him off, eventually escaping.

"The Donna Karan coatdress still hangs on the back of my closet door, unworn and unlaundered since that evening," she wrote. She donned it for a photo accompanying the magazine piece.

Trump said in June that Carroll was "totally lying" and he had "never met this person in my life." While a 1987 photo shows them and their then-spouses at a social event, Trump dismissed it as a moment when he was "standing with my coat on in a line."

"She is trying to sell a new book — that should indicate her motivation," he said in one of various statements on the matter, adding that the book "should be sold in the fiction section."

Carroll sued Trump in November, saying he smeared her and hurt her career as a longtime Elle magazine advice columnist by calling her a liar. She is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction of Trump's statements.

"Unidentified male DNA on the dress could prove that Donald Trump not only knows who I am, but also that he violently assaulted me in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman and then defamed me by lying about it and impugning my character," Carroll said in a statement Thursday.

Her lawyer, Kaplan, said it was "standard operating procedure" in a sexual assault investigation to request a DNA sample from the accused.

"As a result, we've requested a simple saliva sample from Mr. Trump to test his DNA, and there really is no valid basis for him to object," she said.

Trump's lawyer has tried to get the case thrown out. A Manhattan judge declined to do so earlier this month, saying the attorney hadn't properly backed up his arguments that the case didn't belong in a New York court.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they come forward publicly.

Carroll said she didn't do so for decades because she feared legal retribution from Trump and damage to her reputation, among other reasons. But when the #MeToo movement spurred reader requests for advice about sexual assault, she said, she decided she had to disclose her own account.

Trump, a Republican, isn't the first president to face the prospect of a DNA test related to a woman's dress.

Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, underwent such a test during an independent counsel investigation into whether he had a sexual relationship with onetime White House intern Monica Lewinsky and then lied in denying it under oath.

After Clinton's DNA was found on the dress, he acknowledged an "inappropriate intimate relationship" with Lewinsky. Clinton was impeached by the House in December 1998 and later acquitted by the Senate.

SEE ALSO: As Trump's impeachment focuses on corruption in Ukraine, a Ukrainian activist says Americans are the ones 'eager to take dirty money'

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NOW WATCH: First ever close-up footage of DNA replication will have experts rewriting science textbooks

Hello,

Welcome to the Valentine's Day edition of Dispensed, Business Insider's weekly healthcare newsletter. Consider this my Valentine to you. I'll try to resist making any health-related poems. 

Are you new to the newsletter? You can sign up here. 

While I'm sure you're busy buying up treats for loved ones and ready to head into the three-day weekend, first here's a breakdown of all the big stories that kept the team busy this week. 

Last week, I mentioned the layoffs happening at Ancestry, which came just a few weeks after 23andMe also made a big cut to its staff. I also mentioned I've been asking myself the big question of what comes next for the industry.

Well, I decided to turn to industry experts and figure out if I could find an answer. 

The DNA testing industry is stuck in a rut. Here's how 23andMe and Ancestry are plotting their next moves.

• Two of the biggest consumer genetics companies — 23andMe and Ancestry — have recently laid off workers, citing a slowdown in the market for their tests. 
• Consumers aren't flocking to send their spit into genetic testing companies in as high a numbers as the industry expected, an issue the industry has sounded the alarm on for the past six months. 
• Industry experts aren't expecting that market to ever come back, forcing the companies to adopt new strategies. Here's where the companies are betting the industry could go from here.

Andrew Dunn and I spent our first half of the week around the BIO CEO conference here in New York. 

• I spoke with a group of biotech executives onstage Monday about what it takes to prove a new drug should be covered by insurers. They laid out for me the 4 strategies they use to convince health insurers to pay up for new drugs.
• Andrew tuned into a discussion about biotech dealmaking.The top dealmakers, from Centerview, JPMorgan and Raymond James, revealed the 4 areas of biotech that are ripe for takeovers in 2020, from drugs that harness the body's immune system to more precise ways to take on cancer.
• Andrew also listened in on a conversation with Barbara Dalton, a top investor at Pfizer's $1 billion VC arm. She spoke about the 2 biggest mistakes startup biotechs make when trying to win her cash. 

We're only a few weeks away from getting annual financial results from health insurance startups.

While we wait, I figured it'd be useful to pull together some of the numbers around Medicare Advantage enrollment, drawing from data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the companies themselves, and more.

Here's a look, complete with a great graphic from Ruobing Su.

Venture-backed health insurers are all competing for customers in the red-hot Medicare Advantage market. Here's our first look at how Oscar, Devoted, and Bright stack up.

Some general observations: nobody's cleared 100,000 members in Medicare Advantage yet, and I'll be curious how long it takes for the startups to get there.

Compared to the millions of members insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Humana have, the startups still have a lot of room to grow. 

Some updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak: This week, we got an official name for the virus, COVID-19. 

We've gotten updates as well on the virus's impact on healthcare workers in Wuhan. About 500 have gotten sick, and one study suggests that as much as one-third of all cases are in medical staff.

You can follow along with more coverage here.

I'll leave you with a couple posts from around the newsroom. 

Bradley Saacks, our hedge fund reporter, had the scoop on Prashanth Jayaram's move to striking up his own fund. The Citadel portfolio manager, who holds a medical degree, is going it alone and launching his own healthcare-focused hedge fund.

For those of you in healthcare professions(or those simply curious), here's a look athow to earn a 6-figure salary as a dietitian or nutritionist, according to 4 renowned entrepreneurs in the industry.

With that, I'll leave you to your planning for Valentine's Day and the three-day weekend. We'll be back with more starting Tuesday. In the meantime, you can find me at lramsey@businessinsider.com, or you can reach the whole healthcare team at healthcare@businessinsider.com.

- Lydia

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NOW WATCH: 3 dietitians debunk 18 weight loss myths, from cutting carbs to fad diets

More than 1 million years ago, mammoths traversed an ice-covered Siberia. The teeth and tusks they left behind were preserved in the region's permanently frozen ground.

Researchers recently extracted and mapped the DNA preserved in two mammoth molars from the region, with startling results. On Wednesday, they revealed that DNA is more than 1 million years old, making it the oldest DNA ever sequenced.

Before this finding, that record belonged to an ancient horse with DNA between 560,000 and 780,000 years old. 

In their study about the mammoth teeth, the researchers reported that the molars came from two different types of mammoth. One species, the steppe mammoth, is well-known: its descendants were woolly mammoths. The other, according to Love Dalén, a geneticist at the Center for Palaeogenetics in Sweden, is from a "previously unknown mammoth that lived in Siberia around 1.2 million years ago."

This second species, Dalén told Insider, interbred with woolly mammoths about 420,000 years ago, which gave rise to the Columbian mammoths that went onto occupy North America. 

Tracing mammoth ancestors using their DNA

The ancient molars themselves aren't new discoveries: Andrei Sher, a Russian paleontologist, found them in the 1970s.

But the new study, published in the journal Nature, pinpointed how old the teeth are for the first time. To accomplish this, Dalén's team first looked at the age of the rock deposits where Sher collected the teeth. 

The researchers named the molar from the previously unknown mammoth species Krestovka, after the place it was found. The rock there is between 1.1 and 1.2 million years old. The other tooth, which the team named Adycha, was pulled from a rock layer dating back between 500,000 and 1.2 million years. 

The researchers compared this geologic dating information with genetic data.

Over time, DNA builds up mutations: changes in a species' genetic sequence. Those mutations accrue at a fairly constant rate over time, so researchers can count the number of mutations to figure out how much time has passed since a given evolutionary event, like the point when a species split into two, for example.

Mammoths and living elephants diverged from a common ancestor around 5.3 million years ago, according to a genetic study from 2018. By calculating the number of mutations in the ancient mammoths' DNA, the study authors could estimate how much time had passed between that separation and the mammoth's birth. 

"The more differences there are between lineages, the more time that has elapsed," Alfred Roca, an animal scientist from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the research, told Insider.

That method showed that the the Krestova specimen is about 1.65 million years old, while Adycha is around 1.34 million years old. 

Dalén's team also pulled DNA from a third tooth found in Siberia named Chukochya. It was about 870,000 years old, likely from one of the oldest woolly mammoths. 

The benefits of permafrost preservation

Dalén has worked with ancient rhino fossils, too. Two years ago, he co-authored a paper that looked at a 1.7-million-year-old rhino tooth. Although that specimen is older than the mammoth molars, Dalén's team was not able to recover DNA from it — only protein. 

Proteins aren't as informative as DNA, since they only code for a tiny piece of an animal's genetic code. 

However, DNA degrades over time, especially if it's exposed to heat or sunlight. That's why scientists had never previously found genetic molecules more than hundreds of thousands of years old. Siberia, however, offers a resting place for fossils that increases the chances the DNA inside can survive. 

"Cold temperatures keep the DNA from degrading, much as a freezer keeps food from spoiling," Roca said.

Even so, the DNA in the mammoth teeth was very fragmented when the researchers pulled it out — "broken into tens of millions of small pieces," according to Dalén.

So analyzing it was a challenge, but the achievement creates new opportunities to study how ancient species interbred and evolved. Dalén's group showed it's possible to study the genes of creatures far older than scientists previously thought possible.

The study authors think that based on what they learned from this work, they'll be equipped to extract DNA that's even older from other fossils that may emerge from the permafrost.

"We haven't reached the limit yet. An educated guess would be that we could recover DNA that is 2 million years old, and possibly go even as far back as 2.6 million," Anders Götherström, a molecular archaeologist and co-author of the study, said in a press release. "Before that, there was no permafrost where ancient DNA could have been preserved."

SEE ALSO: A study reveals how the last woolly mammoths died out 4,000 years ago. That's after the Egyptians had built the pyramids.

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Scientists successfully cloned a black-footed ferret using DNA of a frozen relative that died in 1988 for the first time in US history.

Elizabeth Ann was born on 10 December and is a genetic copy of a ferret called Willa, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced in a statement this week.

Willa's cells, frozen during the 1980s when DNA technology was first developed, were used to create the newborn animal.

North America's only ferret species was considered extinct until 18 were found on a Wyoming ranch in 1981.

They were captured by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and a breeding program to recover the population was established. Their numbers have now increased to 250 to 350 ferrets living in captivity and 300 spread across 29 reintroduction sites in the wild.

Scientists are now hoping to use cloning to create genetic diversity, making the animals less susceptible to disease and genetic abnormalities.

Ryan Phelan, Executive Director of biotechnology conservation company Revive & Restore, said: "It was a commitment to seeing this species survive that has led to the successful birth of Elizabeth Ann.

He also added in the statement: "To see her now thriving ushers in a new era for her species and for conservation-dependent species everywhere. She is a win for biodiversity and for genetic rescue."

Elizabeth Ann will not be released into the wild but instead raised in the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado, where she was born, so that researchers can continue to study her.

A genomic study revealed Willa's DNA contained three times more unique variations than the living ferret population, meaning that if she successfully mates and reproduces, Elizabeth Ann could provide unique genetic diversity to the species, according to the USFWS.

The cloning of Elizabeth Ann resulted from a partnership between the USFWS, Revive & Restore, ViaGen Pets & Equine, San Diego Zoo Global, and the Association of Zoos aquariums.

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