The suffering genetic trying out corporate 23andMe says it’s going to minimize 40% of its personnel, or 200 jobs, because it fights for survival.The once-popular DNA-testing web site will even halt paintings on treatments it was once growing.Final 12 months, the corporate mentioned hackers had controlled to realize get right of entry to to private data of hundreds of thousands of its customers.23andMe’s percentage value has fallen by way of greater than 70% this 12 months, as its co-founder and leader government Anne Wojcicki tries to show the trade round.The corporate mentioned it anticipated to incur one-off prices of $12m (£9.3m), together with severance pay, for the plan that can lead to financial savings of $35m.”We’re taking those tricky however vital movements as we restructure 23andMe and concentrate on the long-term good fortune of our core client trade and analysis partnerships,” Ms Wojcicki mentioned.The corporate additionally mentioned it is thinking about what to do with the treatments it had in construction, together with licensing or promoting them.23andMe is a huge of the rising ancestor-tracing business. It provides genetic trying out from DNA, with ancestry breakdown and customized well being insights.Its shoppers come with well-known names, from rapper Snoop Dogg to multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett.In December final 12 months, 23andMe showed that hackers had accessed main points of about 6.9 million of its customers.In some instances this integrated circle of relatives timber, delivery years and geographic places. However the stolen information didn’t come with DNA information, it mentioned.The hackers logged into 23andMe accounts by way of the use of e mail and password main points in the past uncovered by way of different breaches.They downloaded no longer best the information from the ones accounts however the personal data of all different customers that they had hyperlinks to around the circle of relatives timber at the web page.In June, information watchdogs in the United Kingdom and Canada introduced investigations into the breach.On the time, a observation from the United Kingdom’s Knowledge Commissioner’s Place of business mentioned “23andMe is a custodian of extremely delicate non-public data, together with genetic data which doesn’t trade through the years.” “This makes public believe in those services and products crucial,” it added.In some other blow to the corporate, seven of 23andMe’s eight-strong board resigned in September.The company’s unbiased administrators mentioned that they had stepped down after no longer receiving a sufficient buyout be offering from Ms Wojcicki.
