Yahoo! To! Sell! Home! Gene! Test! Kit! In! Japan!

Yahoo! Japan will soon sell genetic testing kits, so its users can figure out if they have a disposition to disease.

The Japan Times reports officials at Yahoo! Japan, which was formed as a joint venture between SouthBank and Yahoo! USA, promises the company “... will play only a marketing role and will not handle any data from the analyses ...”. Officials also told the Times Yahoo! Japan is doing nothing more sinister than acting as a middle man.

The kit comes from Genesis Healthcare Co. and requires users to spit into a vial as illustrated in the tasteful infographic depicted below.

The vial is despatched to Genesis, which analyses the customer's genome and encrypts the data before notifying customers of a personalised URL bearing the results of the test. Many commentators have pointed out that insurers would love to get their hands on such data, as it would help them to weed out risky customers, but Yahoo! Japan assures would-be buyers that Genesis is the leading outfit in the DIY gene test caper and that they can therefore rest assured their genetic profiles won't fall into the wrong hands.

Insert! Saliva! Here!

Says! Yahoo! Japan!

The analysis process takes up to 60 days, during which time The Reg imagines users of a nervous disposition won't have any trouble sleeping.

The kits will go on sale in December. ®