EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) is asking the Trump administration to monitor the selling of genetic data by the recently bankrupted biotechnology company 23andme to ensure that Americans’ information does not fall into the hands of “bad actors.”
The Oklahoma Republican is sending two letters, one to the Trump administration and one to the biotechnology company, to raise alarm bells about the possible national security risk selling the information poses in the event the data is sold to “companies headquartered in or with ties to countries hostile to American national interests.”
“DNA holds important details of your past, present, and potential future. For years, China has collected healthcare data from both the U.S. and nations across the globe, and the [Chinese Communist Party] understands the importance of accessing genomic data,” Bice told the Washington Examiner. “There are serious concerns over how the genetic data of millions of Americans will be treated as part of the bankruptcy of 23andMe. It is imperative that the personal information of Americans does not fall into the hands of our foreign adversaries.”
23andMe, which provided direct-to-consumer genetic sequencing to 15 million customers, declared bankruptcy on Sunday. The struggling company said it would pursue a sale to the highest bidder. Consumer advocates have advised customers who signed up for the genetic testing service to request the deletion of their accounts to keep their data safe.
Though the company was popular a few years back, it struggled to find recurring revenue because buyers only needed one kit to enter the global database.
Bice’s letter to the Trump administration, addressed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asks the agency leaders to “monitor this situation and do anything within your scope to prevent Americans’ genetic data from getting into the hands of bad actors.”
The company’s former CEO, Anne Wojcicki, stepped down earlier this month. Wojcicki posted on X that she is “disappointed that we have come to this conclusion and my bid was rejected,” stating that she hoped to buy the company.
The California biotech company is allowing customers to delete their accounts, genetic data holding, and saliva samples. However, some data must be maintained even after the account has been deleted.
“While the decision to declare bankruptcy is yours to make, handling the genetic data you are stewards of should be done carefully,” Bice wrote in her letter to 23andMe’s interim CEO, Joeseph Selsavage. “The data that you are in possession of, if given to the wrong entity, could make you and your shareholders complicit in undermining the health and well-being of your customers and your fellow American citizens.”
While the company claims customer data is safe now, the new owner could implement big changes in how the data is handled. Many state attorneys general have urged people to delete their data now, providing a step-by-step process for doing so. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson (D-NC) posted this process to his booming social media.
Bice claimed biological data to be a “strategic national asset” while warning that this data falling into the wrong hands — specifically China — could pose a significant national security threat that could put Americans’ genetic data at risk of being “weaponized.”
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“I believe selling the data from roughly 15 million individuals may pose a potential national security threat if 23andMe sells to companies headquartered in or with ties to countries hostile to American national interests,” Bice wrote in the letter to three departments.
The Departments of Commerce, Justice, and the Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.
