Competitor accuses 23andMe of ‘false negatives’ in cancer-gene testing

Genetics testing company Invitae is accusing rival 23andMe of offering tests that have a high rate of “false negatives” when it comes to testing for DNA variants that cause certain cancers. Data presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics suggests that up to 40% of patients with mutations linked to colorectal cancer would have learned from 23andMe tests that no disease-causing mutations had been found. Variants of other genes, including those linked to breast cancer, would have been missed at especially high rates in certain ethnic populations. 23andMe denied these allegations, saying that it clearly states that it tests only for certain variants, not all of those in the Invitae study.