DNA Direct is a privately held company, incorporated in the fall of 2003, and is located on the San Francisco waterfront in California. We are staffed by a group of dedicated individuals and genetic experts committed to building a genetic testing and counseling service that empowers health care consumers.

Our Mission

To bring the power of personalized medicine to patients & consumers – reducing health risks, preventing disease, and better targeting therapies.

Why We Started DNA Direct

Genetic testing offers information that can help people make informed decisions about medical management and lifestyle choices. In the current healthcare model, not everyone has access to genetic testing for a variety of reasons.

As mandated by medical professional societies, genetic tests must be ordered by a physician and test results must be interpreted by a genetic counselor, geneticist, or other specialist. In some states, genetic testing must be accompanied by an in-person genetics evaluation and/or genetic counseling appointment. This approach is limited by the fact that there are only 1,200 medical geneticists and just over 2,000 genetic counselors in the U.S., most often based in urban areas.

DNA Direct's Solution

To increase access to testing, DNA Direct has created a web- and phone-based, virtual genetics clinic. Genetic testing results can be complex, and in some cases, do not provide a definitive “yes” or “no” answer. Therefore, DNA Direct's services focus on personalized test result interpretation and supportive materials and services. DNA Direct's solution:

• Provide individuals with education and the opportunity to decide whether testing is right for them.
• Confidentially collect relevant personal and family health information.
•  Use medical guidelines to determine their potential medical benefit from genetic testing.
• Receive test result interpretation via a comprehensive, personalized report available on a secure, personal webpage.
• In addition to test results, receive personalized information about personal genetic risks, how other factors contribute to genetic risk, how to modify risk factors, and how to share genetic risk information with relatives and medical professionals.
• Learn more using the DNA Direct’s extensive, up-to-date educational resources, which provide easy to understand genetic information as well as pre- and post-test considerations.

DNA Direct recognizes that web-and phone-based genetic testing is not appropriate for all people, and that it provides an innovative and responsible alternative to enable individual access to genetic testing in compliance with state and federal laws.