EncrypGen says it wants to build the Amazon of genetic material. The startup will let users put their DNA online, sell it to researchers or companies, and be paid in EncrypGen’s own cryptocurrency. It sounds like the premise of a sci-fi paperback. It’s also made EncrypGen millions in bitcoin, before the company has even launched its gene-selling product.
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But when researchers buy EncrypGen customers’ data, it won’t be in U.S. dollars. Instead, the payout will come in $DNA tokens, the company’s proprietary cryptocurrency. As of Wednesday, the digital currency was worth $0.70 per coin, according to cryptocurrency trading sites.
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But some experts are less than sold on EncrypGen’s premise. Sandra Park, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who worked on the organization’s successful Supreme Court bid against gene patenting, said the company should work with patient advocates to make sure donors know exactly how their genetic data is being used.
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“Most people are increasingly aware that the data they’re given from consumer genetic testing services is not under their control anymore,” [creator David Koepsell] said. “It’s been used and sold, and money’s been made off it that they don’t have any access to.”
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