DeCODE Genetics, a genetics research firm from Iceland, filed for bankruptcy yesterday (see my article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/11/decode-genetics-files-for-bankruptcy.html). Saga Investments, a US venture capital firm, has already put in a bid to buy deCODE’s operations, raising privacy concerns about the fate of customer DNA samples and records.
The company told the New York Times that Saga would be bound by deCODE’s privacy agreements with customers, which prohibits the disclosure of customer data to third parties such as insurers, employers or doctors. However, privacy advocates are concerned that Saga, whose primary interest is bottom-line profits, will opt to sell subscriber data — possibly in an anonymized form to researchers and pharmaceutical companies
You can read more in an article in Wired Magazine at http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/dna/.
