Know what a DNA site keeps
What happens to the tube you mail, and what you can still decide.
You mail a tube of saliva. A lab turns it into a data file about you, and the company keeps both — the file, and often the tube itself.
Two separate choices sit in your account: whether the sample is stored, and whether your data is used for research.
Key points
- A DNA site keeps a data file about you, and often the tube of saliva too
- Storing the sample and sharing for research are separate switches you control
What to remember
- These settings stay open to you long after the test.
- These switches work forward, never backward.
Try this
Sign in to your own DNA account, open Privacy or Settings, and read what your two switches say today.
Practice: Know what a DNA site keeps. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.