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A new app store can help you learn about your genes and how much of a Neanderthal you are

Helix, a silicon valley startup, is offering to sequence your genes for $80 and then see if you want to share your genetic data with other companies who might be able to tell you different things about it.

The companies have all developed apps that offer unique insights into something about you and your genes. For instance, for an initial $30, Insitome's app will tell you what percentage of your genetic makeup is from Neanderthals, so that you can then know how often to shave your eyebrows or other things that relate to your health or muscle development.

The apps are currently organized into the following categories: ancestry, entertainment, nutrition, health, fitness, and family. There appear to be very insightful apps that relate to family planning, which can tell you things such as what potential genetic diseases you might be carrying and could pass onto your children. Quite a few of the apps center around what diet, genetically speaking, suits you best, but there are other ones such as Exploragen which can inform you about your sleeping pattern and what time you should go to bed.

It is well known how much data is and could be stored in strands of DNA, in fact, Microsoft is actively exploring how it can use DNA as a form of data storage. But with so much personal data already in DNA, as it is, if the Helix service becomes popular it certainly looks like it could offer potentially innumerable ways in which people could optimize their lifestyle, diet, exercise routines and so forth.

Even though there are countless potential ways in which personal information from DNA could be used, there is already an app which tells you which wine suits your palate best according to your genes. Do we need an app for that? Do we want people to start rejecting wine at dinner parties and restaurants because it doesn't suit their genetic makeup?

Sources: Technology Review, Helix |Image via Pixabay

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