DNA data for the price of a dinner

Kits similar to 23andMe are available in Australia online, through several companies, starting at about $300. Photo: Phil Carrick

FOR Carole Kushnir, a test that she took out of simple curiosity about her genetic make-up revealed a double risk of cancer. And for Karen Durrett, it led to her meeting a father she had never known - as well as bringing to light a potentially fatal condition.

The two women are among 180,000 people who have paid to have their DNA analysed by 23andMe, the world's biggest private genomics company, to assess more than 200 genetic traits and health risks.

That number of customers is expected to soar this year after the California-based company, which takes its name from the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a normal human cell, reduced the cost of a testing kit to $99 last month.

The company, co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of the Google entrepreneur Sergey Brin, is planning to reach a million clients by the end of this year, including in Britain.

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Kits similar to 23andMe are available in Australia online, through several companies, starting at about $300. The boom in business and interest in genomes and genetics has led to controversy about the commercial use of one of the most crucial medical breakthroughs of recent years.

For proponents, such as Ms Wojcicki, whose husband has a genetic mutation that significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, this is the dawn of a new era.

For the price of a night out, individuals can learn key elements of their genetic composition and take treatment, or protect their children from hereditary health risks.

Critics, including doctors, bioethicists and geneticists, are concerned that people will be overloaded with information that is difficult for them to interpret.

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DNA data for the price of a dinner