What is it mean to send a spit sample to test your DNA?
I got a 23andMe health and ancestry testing kit from my best friend Joi Nan on my twenty-seventh birthday. I was excited because it’s a unique gift. When I walked by 23andMe headquarter office located in downtown Mountain View, I unconsciously peeked into their office a few times. 23andMe is a rising star in biotechnology startups, and their branding is very successful. The street parking by the entrance of their office is “23 mins parking only”. It made me grin when I first noticed that detail. I pictured that behind their glass wall there stands a wonderland for genetic research and testing, packed with people in white coats holding tubes and tapping on complicated testing machines.
Meanwhile, I felt reluctant to open up my testing kit because I had an impression that testing kits are just so-so. I tried the uBiome testing kit for a gut micro-biome screening test three years ago. The test result was not great - I had diarrheic issues. The reports were wordy, comprehensive with a lot of terms I had a hard time understanding, so I discontinued logging into their website after I shared my testing reports with family members and close friends.
Is it another testing kit that will reveal my health problems without giving feasible solutions? Would I get scaring insights about myself? Is my DNA data contributing to 23andMe DNA database for good uses?
My testing box was left unopened on my table. I told myself that I would open it next week. One week passed. And another.
Five months later, I went to 23andMe headquarter for a design meetup after work. The topic of that meetup was about designing a personalized user experience for the 23andMe product. Their design team shared a lot of inspiring stories from the packaging design of their testing kit to the data visualization practices on personal genetic reports. It was amazing! I felt more connected to my little testing box after I met their design team in person.
I can do it.
I wiped off the dust from my testing box and opened it. In the box, it only contained a tube to collect my saliva, a plastic bag and a pamphlet of instructions. The instructions were easy-to-read with helpful illustrations to demonstrate each step.
No food or drink 30 minutes before giving the saliva example. Ok. I will do it as the first thing in the morning. The second day, I woke up feeling my throat was dried out. The tube looked small though. I could fill it up.
Spit. Spit. Spit.
It’s so hard to reach the filling line. An I can’t drink any water. I wish there were an instruction somewhere telling me what the best collection times are.
Spit. Spit. Spit.
I reached the required filling line! I closed the funnel lid immediately. I replaced the funnel lid with a cap as instructed. I sealed the capped tube and put it back in its original box. I walked to USPS and dropped it off.
That’s great! I finally did it! I texted my best friend and told her I just mailed out the testing kit. Immediately, she replied: “Great job, Shan!”
When I returned to my laptop, I wanted to finish the last step — register for my 23andMe account. However, the website asked me for the barcode on my tube! Uhh, I just sent my tube out! I rechecked the instructions, but I didn’t find any guidance on the instruction pamphlet until I checked the other Welcome card. Ahh, I see where the confusion came from.
The instruction about remembering your unique barcode only shows on the welcome card. If anyone like me is using the pamphlet as the source of truth for guidelines, it’s easy to dismiss this critical information.
Luckily, I took some unboxing photos when I was taking the test. I pinched twice on the photo, and I found my barcode! What if I didn’t take a picture of the tube? What if I took a picture, but the photo didn’t capture the barcode? It would be difficult to retrieve my package that’s been already sent out.
Anyways, at least I found the barcode. I registered my 23andMe account, and I had my testing tube linked to it. On the website, I was asked to take a few other reports — health reports, reports configuration, and health profile.
Twenty minutes slipped by.
As I was completing the surveys, I wondered how those questions would have an impact on my genetic analysis. But I didn’t find any answers on the web pages. The progression of taking surveys from one to another started to make me feel a little meaningless. But I’m a product designer. Those surveys probably derived from product managers and the designers only executed on the aesthetics. I took a deep breath and finished all three reports.
I finally got to my dashboard. It was nice to see the status of my testing kit up front. However, instead of having me ordering another testing kit with the $50 off coupon, I would much rather:
- watch an introduction video about what insights a genome test could reveal;
- read fun facts about our DNAs;
- read latest case studies on consumer genetic testings;
- browse top QAs from the 23andMe community.
The tone of my dashboard was very survey-focused. It wanted me to input more information by giving me more research surveys. I felt a little overwhelmed. I bounced from the website, and I decided to come back until my testing results come in.
Two months later, I got an email. My resting results are ready for review! That’s exciting! I logged into my account immediately. I want to see my ancestry report first and the most. 🎉🎉
It’s great to see who I am geographically and where my ancestors live in the world! As a Chinese, I would love to know more about which ethnic group I belong and what the percentage of this ancestral connection is. I know I am from Han ethnic group, but that’s the only information I have from my parents. How much of a Han am I? How strongly am I connected to Han culture in the mainland, China?
I also spotted that I have an increased risk for celiac disease. It resonated with what I got from the gut micro-biome test I did before — my diarrheic issues might come from my DNA.
Closing thoughts
Taking a genetic test on 23andMe makes me more connected to myself. As I grow, I want to learn more about who I am, where I come from, and what I want. My perception of the world is a comprehensive result of the remix of many things: my genome, the environment and people around where I grow up, and my up-to-the-moment life experience. A genetic report can conceal the truth of our health, but we have the motives to unveil the ambiguity. The known leads to the balance of our mind and heart.
