Consumer Genomic Testing Growing at 25% CAGR: Taking Flight and Landing in the Era of Life Data

By Zhou Mengya and Liu Lushi

In 2026 AD, an American geneticist presented an academic report at the Ottawa Conference. The report claimed that a specific genetic test could accurately identify individuals with artistic talent.

It was virtually a bombshell dropped on the scientific and cultural communities. Henceforth, all practitioners in the arts were compelled to undergo genetic “aptitude testing.” No literary genes? No publisher would touch your book. No artistic genes for painting? Your works would never be deemed fit for respectable exhibition. No musical genes? Sorry, but no one would truly appreciate your compositions.

Image source:Outer Places

The passage above actually sets the scene from the Greek novel *The Secret of Genes*. We may never see the day when talent is evaluated through genetic testing. Yet in 2017, less than a decade before the novel’s setting of 2026, the market was already flooded with numerous consumer genetic products that claimed to “predict” physical constitution and personality traits, and even purported to forecast innate talents.

Recently, a reporter from VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) personally tried out direct-to-consumer genetic testing. The results were reportedly quite accurate, correctly predicting tendencies such as alcohol and caffeine intolerance, distractibility, and susceptibility to motion sickness, leaving one to marvel at the wonders of this so-called “scientific fortune-telling.”

But upon reflection, despite the initial amazement, there are few practical ways to improve one’s condition even after learning about alcohol intolerance and susceptibility to motion sickness. In short, while the test helped the reporter gain a deeper understanding of their own body, its role in subsequent health management was negligible.

Setting aside the various controversies,Consumer genetic testing may be a market with greater potential than clinical and research-grade genetic testing, yet it is more “challenging.”“Broad,” because it differs from highly specialized, vertical markets such as clinical research genetics; it can be applied across numerous fields including wellness, nutrition, sports, and beauty, with relatively low technical barriers, and most importantly, a broader user base. “Challenging,” because it is still too early for consumer genomics to achieve widespread adoption while remaining profitable. Even Francis deSouza, Global CEO of Illumina, has stated, “The era of gene sequencing as a mass-market consumer product is far from arriving.”

Yet the power of technology will inevitably bring those once held in high esteem down from their pedestals. The “big brother” mobile phones of the 1980s, which cost tens of thousands of yuan, have evolved over three decades into today’s smartphones priced at just a few thousand yuan. Similarly, gene sequencing that cost $100 million in 2001 has, in little more than ten years, dropped to as low as a few hundred dollars today—a remarkably rapid pace of consumer adoption. According to data from Credence Research, the consumer genetic testing market is projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.1% between 2016 and 2022.

In the future, consumer genetic testing will inevitably become more prevalent in the lives of ordinary people, with implementation remaining the current challenge. Here, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) tracks the practical application of consumer genetics in public health management.

Amid technological advancements and consumption upgrades, public health awareness is shifting from “treating diseases after onset” to “proactive intervention.” In this context, consumer-grade genetic testing, aimed at health management, has entered the health management market. Insights at the molecular level undoubtedly enable a fundamental analysis and understanding of human health.

However, most current consumer genetic testing products remain confined to a single-layer testing model, stuck in the “pay-test-report” stage. After receiving their reports, users are left without guidance or support on how to interpret or utilize the results.

Users struggle to achieve the expected results, leaving the consumer-grade genetic testing industry in a precarious and unsustainable state.

Zhao Nan, CTO of Jellyfish Gene, told VCBeat: “Consumers are not scientific researchers; their needs lean more toward the early prediction of health risks. Ultimately, what consumers seek is an upgrade in health-related consumption.” Consumers hope to anticipate their health conditions in advance through genetic testing, with the test itself being merely the beginning.

“In more ‘serious’ medical applications, the core value of genetic testing lies in refining traditional healthcare. The role of consumer genetic testing in health consumption should be no different,” said Zhao Nan.

He explained to reporters that healthcare comprises several stages—prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Among these, diagnosis and treatment are conducted in hospitals. Integrating genetic technologies into these two stages enables precise diagnosis and treatment, as exemplified by non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and targeted cancer therapies.

However, a key player—medical professionals—is missing from the prevention and rehabilitation stages. Products in these two stages often target consumers directly; without the transition and mediation provided by intermediaries, mere testing cannot achieve precision in these areas.

The absence of an intermediary service layer has led to a gap in service delivery. Recognizing this issue, some industry practitioners have begun seeking collaborations within the intermediate segment, aiming to complete the roles in the industrial chain and thereby achieve a more comprehensive service chain.

VCBeat has outlined several major implementation models in the consumer genetic testing market:

1. Physical Examination

Health Checkups + Genetic Testing is a relatively common implementation model for consumer genetic testing. The inherent limitation of health checkups is that even if a disease is detected at an early stage, it merely provides “early awareness” rather than “early prevention.” If individuals can identify their congenital susceptibility genes through testing, they can put an end to ignorance about their own health status and adopt the most appropriate health management strategies.

Dr. Dai Yan from United Family Healthcare has highlighted the differences in health checkups between China and the United States. In the U.S., providers first assess a patient’s personal and family medical history, and recommend genetic testing for individuals at high risk of certain diseases. This information serves as a reference to enable personalized health screenings. Currently, the trend of incorporating genetic testing into health checkups is also gaining traction in China.

From the perspective of genetic testing companies, Zhu Yeqing, CEO of New Horizon Health, stated, “Overall, health checkup institutions are ideal partners for collaboration.”

First, the greatest benefit of partnering with health checkup institutions is access to a higher-quality user base: “Health checkup providers and consumer genomics companies target the same population—health-conscious individuals from the general public.” This segment of the population is significantly more receptive to consumer genetic products. Additionally, health checkup institutions provide an environment conducive to face-to-face interactions. “Risk screening products cannot be effectively marketed through product displays alone; they often require in-person communication,” stated Zhu Yeqing. “Another advantage of health checkup institutions is their ability to offer such an environment.”

Forms of Cooperation:

Medical checkup institutions and genetic testing companies have joined forces to develop health checkup plus genetic testing products for the general public. By leveraging the high customer traffic of these institutions, they aim to expand the reach of genetic testing, achieving the dual goals of market education for genetic testing and the accumulation of data for precise population health management. Furthermore, consumer genetic data obtained from checkup institutions are typically subject to more rigorous and comprehensive requirements, thereby offering greater research value.

2. Insurance

Beyond physical examinations, the “genetics + insurance” model has also become mainstream, representing one of the most promising consumer applications of genetic testing. A key concept in insurance is risk control; health and medical insurance companies are eager to understand and participate in managing policyholders’ health, and genetic testing provides precisely such a window into individuals’ health status. Both insurers and clients aim to shift from passive treatment to proactive health management, thereby reducing the burden on both parties. With a comprehensive understanding of disease risks, they can work together—leveraging follow-up services provided by insurers—to prevent diseases before they occur.

The first instance of genetic testing coverage in health insurance occurred in October 2014, through a collaboration between the U.S. insurer Priority Health and the genomic sequencing company Foundation Medicine. Currently, there are numerous cases of insurance partnerships involving genetic testing in the United States. According to a 2016 Medscape survey of 206 insurance companies, approximately one-third offered at least one insurance plan that included genetic testing. However, issues related to genetic discrimination by some U.S. insurers have yet to be adequately addressed.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), enacted as early as 2008, prohibits health insurers from denying coverage to high-risk individuals based on genetic testing results. However, it does not regulate life insurance, long-term care insurance, or disability insurance, leading to instances where applicants have been denied coverage for these products due to carrying high-risk genetic variants.

In the Chinese market, health insurance is an emerging product. However, as health awareness and living standards rise, prevention-oriented health insurance is gaining acceptance among the public. Meanwhile, genetic testing, which remains a novelty to many, has also served as a promotional tool for insurance sales. Nevertheless, specific applications of genetic data and relevant regulations enacted to prevent “genetic discrimination” still require further refinement.

Collaboration Model:

Currently, the predominant model of collaboration between insurance companies and genetic testing firms in China is “buy insurance, get free testing,” with the consistency between test results and clinical outcomes serving as the criterion for insurance claims adjudication. Zhu Yeqing stated, “When new technologies emerge, consumers inevitably harbor certain doubts regarding their sensitivity and reliability. The insurance sector, in this context, serves to provide endorsement and credibility for these technologies.”

In the future, the focal points of collaboration between consumer genetic testing and the insurance industry may include: first, leveraging the interpretation of genetic test results to guide health insurers in providing long-term health management for policyholders, thereby reducing critical illness claims over time; second, stratifying user risk based on genetic test results as part of overall risk assessment to develop differentiated premium plans. However, whether insurers can use customers’ genetic data as reference material for underwriting background checks remains a subject of debate.

3. Medical aesthetics, sports and wellness, nutrition, and even the consumer genomics ecosystem

Although less prevalent than the first two models, “Genetics + Medical Aesthetics,” “Genetics + Exercise,” and “Genetics + Nutrition” models have quietly emerged. It is claimed that certain genetic variants can indicate inflammatory responses and the rates of DNA repair and replication, thereby helping to inform decisions on “customized aesthetic enhancement.” Other variants can reveal an individual’s metabolic response to food, including susceptibility to cancer from consuming charred foods or the likelihood of lactose intolerance, thus enabling the creation of personalized nutrition plans. Still other variants can provide insights into explosive power, endurance, and metabolism, allowing individuals to achieve their ideal weight in a healthy manner.

In addition, some companies have begun planning to build an ecosystem around consumer genomics, integrating various genetic testing needs into a single large platform and opening up portions of their genetic databases to consumers and relevant manufacturers.

4. Recreational Genetic Testing

Consumer genetic tests, such as the controversial “talent gene” testing that recently sparked intense public debate, are the most heavily scrutinized category in the direct-to-consumer genetics market. Overseas models offer greater diversity, including combinations of genetics with personal preferences, matchmaking for marriage and dating, and customized wine recommendations based on genetic profiles. While these services appear diverse and innovative, their suitability for the Chinese market remains to be evaluated.

Most of the aforementioned models leverage the attributes of genetic testing to enhance the precision of their services. However, it is evident that in many cases, marketing outweighs utility, and the practical value of consumer genetic testing remains to be further explored.

In terms of insurance, genetic testing products are currently often used as a novel and eye-catching marketing strategy.In practice, there is a significant disconnect between genetics and business operations; many insurance products that include genetic testing fail to leverage the test results for risk control.

Deep collaboration between genetic testing and the insurance industry faces significant challenges, primarily because current partnerships between genetic testing firms and insurers mostly operate at the market level—through insurance brokers. These brokers often lack a biological background and merely utilize genetic testing as a value-added service to boost sales and enhance customer stickiness.

The integration of genetic testing with insurance may help reduce claim ratios. Zhou Kun, CEO of 23Mofang, told VCBeat: “For health insurance, the essence of lowering claim ratios lies in reducing the probability of insured individuals developing diseases. This requires the involvement of genuine health management.”

With the accumulation of genetic data and the maturation of technologies for interpreting such data, future genetic testing is highly likely to bring about revolutionary improvements in insurance claims processing. This impact may be no less significant than the disruption e-commerce has brought to traditional commerce today, creating a win-win situation for both policyholders and insurance companies. However, it must be noted that using genetics to guide health risk management still requires substantial data accumulation. “At present, there is still a long way to go,” said Zhou Kun.

Image source:Motherboard 

“Genetics + Health Checkup” Model: Health checkup institutions tend to favor sustainable screening tests.The frequency of this type of testing is comparable to that of routine health examinations. Although it requires an initial investment in user education, it offers relatively strong sustainability for health examination institutions and presents considerable long-term potential.

For instance, genetic susceptibility testing at the hereditary level typically requires only a single test. After health checkup institutions invest in user education costs, they end up with a “one-off transaction.” Therefore, most institutions carefully consider their product type selections.

Genetic testing remains quite niche in the fields of sports and medical aesthetics.. Industry standards have yet to be established in this field, allowing some opportunists to exploit the guise of genetic technology. Similarly, issues akin to those in cooperative insurance persist here: the intermediary service layer lacks a biological background. This further amplifies the marketing-driven nature of genetic testing.

Furthermore, a more significant issue is that service providers in related industries may not necessarily believe in the substantial impact of genetic testing. For instance, when customizing exercise plans, fitness coaches are likely to rely more on their own empirical judgment than on test results. For the user demographic in this field—most of whom seek medical aesthetics or fitness services—they will proceed with these services regardless of whether they undergo genetic testing.

In the earliest stages, the users of genetic testing technology were research and medical institutions, and the services provided were limited to testing only.

The sequencing industry has experienced rapid development, and the clinical utility demonstrated by tests such as non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has sparked consumer curiosity about this technology. Consequently, more consumer-oriented products based on genetic testing have emerged, but early misconceptions have also been carried over into the consumer market.

However, this market directly targets consumers, a demographic lacking professional expertise. Without the intermediary services provided by professionals, such consumer-grade genetic products are unlikely to deliver efficacy comparable to that of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Merely packaging technology into products and simplifying their presentation does not necessarily resolve the underlying issues.

Among the aforementioned models, both genetic testing providers and health management firms have virtually no prior experience in collaboration. The diverse array of models abroad indicates that they are also in an exploratory phase, with no mature frameworks available for reference in China. In summary, stakeholders both domestically and internationally are navigating uncharted territory.

“Both consumers and practitioners in the health industry still lack a scientific understanding of genetic testing technology,” Sun Yimin, President of Boao Yihe, told reporters. In this process, in addition to user education, practitioners in the health industry need to improve their understanding of genetic testing.

There are no mature business models, nor a mature user base; even brand recognition among partner institutions remains to be improved. At present, the consumer genomics and health management market is still in its infancy, which is likely one of the reasons why none of the existing models have yielded satisfactory results.

In addition, beyond market maturity, the industry’s overall maturity also needs improvement.

First, from a technical perspective, the application of this technology has previously been concentrated in scientific research and clinical settings, with most techniques evolving from research origins. As far as the consumer market is concerned, the volume of data remains insufficient.

Second, in terms of market management, regulatory oversight often lags behind the emergence of new technologies.

Overall, the market remains in its early stages, with collaborations within the health management industry still superficial, exposing numerous shortcomings and deficiencies.

“But this is also a normal phenomenon,” Zhao Nan stated. “Any technology requires a process to transition from the laboratory to the market.” When the first computer was born in 1946, who could have imagined that humanity would enter the PC era?

1. Patient Education

“Regarding direct-to-consumer genetic testing, there are two prevailing views in the market: either it is seen as omnipotent, or it is deemed utterly worthless.” Zhou Kun stated, “Both perspectives are extremely superficial.”

Sun Yimin stated that for genetic testing to enter the consumer market, it is essential first to foster a rational understanding of this technology among both end users and intermediaries in the service chain. Companies must avoid overstating the capabilities of genetic testing or prematurely commercializing the technology. Excessively high user expectations often lead to disappointment with the final results; more critically, any adverse incident could have severely negative repercussions for the industry.

2. Self-Awareness

In addition to ensuring that users have a clear understanding, companies must also maintain a clear self-awareness: What can consumer-grade genetic testing actually accomplish? And what application scenarios are available to consumers after they receive their test results?

Do enterprises manage themselves spontaneously by enabling consumers to better understand themselves, or do they create an industrial closed loop by connecting intermediate links?

3. Market Awareness

In a previous conversation with Lu Gang from Legend Star, he mentioned that genetic testing must be integrated with services. Since it is combined with services, understanding user needs to effectively meet them becomes crucial.

Xiao Zhe from Meiyin Genomics stated, “In addition to assessing whether users can understand the information, consumer-grade genetic testing companies also need to determine whether the test content aligns with consumers’ needs.”

Which screenings and genetic loci are suitable for the Chinese population? The selection of detection loci and interpretation methods should take into account the characteristics and consumer demands of the Chinese population.

4. Data Accumulation

Individual genomic data points may hold limited significance on their own; however, at a macro level, once aggregated to a certain scale, these data are certain to deliver substantial value.

Currently, China does not yet have a large-scale population genetic database with millions of samples and comprehensive panels comparable to those of Ancestry or 23andMe in the United States. Although a few companies have established databases containing millions of samples focused on specific gene loci associated with certain clinical diseases, these fall far short of expectations for what constitutes a truly comprehensive future genetic database.

Zhu Yeqing stated, “While the significance is limited from an individual perspective, it holds substantial value from the viewpoints of health economics and national policy.” For instance, using individual incidence rates as an example, a health economics perspective can provide reference data for the customization of national social security and medical insurance programs, thereby achieving significant cost savings.

Currently, many consumer genomics companies are investing heavily in accumulating user data, with the aim of “staking claims” to genetic repositories and seeking broader monetization opportunities. This is similar to the “traffic dividend windfall” long pursued by the internet industry: users’ adherence to high-quality products itself creates substantial potential for subsequent value-added services, with new demands emerging naturally. This can be described as “painstaking groundwork” in the early stage followed by “effortless earnings” later on. Similarly, consumer genetic testing attracts populations through richer, more innovative products and increasingly affordable prices, thereby establishing an entry point for big genetic data. To some extent, this strategy also aims to lay the foundation for potential future “effortless earnings.”

Zhou Kun stated, “Genetic testing data will become widespread at an extremely rapid pace; everyone recognizes that it will be a gold mine in the future.” However, no one can yet determine precisely where this gold mine lies or how it will be tapped. This is akin to the early days when no one anticipated that Tencent QQ’s user base would eventually be monetized through gaming.

5. Market Regulation

Furthermore, as the industry develops, corresponding regulations should be gradually established, and standards should be formed for reporting formats, laboratory management, and quality supervision.

Meanwhile, both domestically and internationally, the industry remains in an exploratory phase. As an emerging sector, it urgently requires the gradual establishment of more robust regulatory oversight and standardized frameworks.

Special Thanks: Sun Yimin, President of Boao Yihe,Meiyin Gene: Xiao Zhe、New Horizon Health CEO Zhu Yeqing, Jellyfish Gene CTO Zhao Nan, and 23mofang CEO Zhou Kun (listed in alphabetical order). We extend our sincere gratitude to the above individuals for their strong support of this article.

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