Thread by @AdamRutherford

Here is an academic (preprint) paper describing the methods in the DNA sequencing tech for one of the two companies that the Gov have procured to test for COVID-19. 1/x

https://twitter.com/nanopore/status/1293220551637577729

The other company, DNA Nudge has no such equivalent. Instead it has a shiny shop in Covent Garden, and a product that tests the boundaries of where direct-to-consumer genetics meet snake oil

And a bit more:

Nevertheless, DNA Nudge have reportedly been awarded a £161m contract for a COVID-19 specific version of presumably this same technology. (Presumably, as I don’t believe anyone in the public domain has seen any detailed description of spec for their product).

I would very much like to see the procurement process for this. On the one hand, a leading DNA tech company with a proven track record in next gen sequencing tech. On the other, a company that sells a fairly nonsensical product.

Here, by the way is Lord Bethell, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care prompting DNA Nudge earlier this year, also spouting some genetic astrology waffle.

This one might tickle @Botanygeek, as well as every geneticist on earth. And by tickle, I mean vex. I am extremely vexed.

For such an important technology in such an important time, I think some clarity is required. How the product works, if it works, and about the procurement process. To be continued.

Listen carefully. Ends.

Addendum. Companies House records for DNA Nudge
The company is registered to Imperial College's Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB)

bit.ly/3fNHCFt

In a country where we have some of the best geneticists and gene tech innovators and developers, I would say DNA Nudge is a very unusual choice, especially given its existing and previous products.

For example, a former product of DNA Nudge's founder and major shareholder Chris Toumazou (a very successful engineer based at Imperial) was a glitzy shop in Mayfair that sold an anti-aging face cream that they asserted was genetically personalised.
bit.ly/33Pe6gg

'I've spent a lot of time trying to understand how all the big cosmetics companies get away with the placebo science and unscientific claims' said Toumazou, without a hint of apparent irony. 'Truly personalised products have never existed in the cosmetics industry before.'

Here's @JessHamzelou reporting in New Scientist on the unknown but asserted validity of the DNA Nudge test
bit.ly/3gRsbNM

To be 100% clear: I am not saying DNA Nudge's tech doesn't work. I am saying that we have zero accountability in their product, and in the procurement of a desperately needed technology.

This is a MAJOR issue, and demands the utmost scrutiny. The science HAS to work.

Addendum: brought to my attention by @ians_robots. I don't know if this is relevant or not: according to Companies House, DNAnudge has not made a profit for the last 3 years and made a pre-tax loss of £9.6 million last year.

https://twitter.com/ians_robots/status/1293523272815071233