23andMe offering free DNA test to Covid-positive Americans

Question

23andMe are offering a free Health+Ancestry DNA test kit to people that meet the following criteria:

• You are over 18 years old and live in the United States.
• You tested positive for COVID-19.
• You were hospitalized due to COVID-19 related symptoms.
• You are willing to provide a saliva sample for DNA testing. Note, this sample will be used for analyzing different parts of your genome. We are not testing for COVID-19 or providing COVID-19 testing through our spit collection kit.
• You are willing to complete an online study survey. We may ask you to complete additional surveys in the coming months.

See here for more details and to apply:

https://you.23andme.com/covid19-study/

Comments

Are they trying to see if some people are genetically more/less resistant?

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"The goal of the study is to understand genetic differences which may explain why symptoms of the illness range from very mild to very severe and help empower the scientific and medical communities to address this public health crisis."

"So far, preliminary results suggest that people with O blood types are between 9-18% less likely than individuals with other blood types to have tested positive for COVID-19."

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Yes, as mentioned above. Genome Wide Association Studies need large numbers of cases and controls to draw firm conclusions, which is why they are offering free tests to people who were hospitalized.