Everything you need to know about ReadYourDNA and your genomic results.
WHAT IT DOES
ReadYourDNA reads the raw DNA file you already have and turns it into reports on 102 health traits, 85 lifestyle traits, 717 medications, carrier status across 3,321 inherited conditions and 5,000+ researched variants, each with the study behind it.
WHICH FILES
ReadYourDNA works with raw data from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA, and with whole-genome VCF and gVCF files.
PRICE
A ReadYourDNA analysis costs $29.00, paid once: there is no subscription, and the reports stay in your account at no further charge.
FREE START
Starting with ReadYourDNA is free: after the upload you choose 5 health and 10 lifestyle traits to see at no charge, and the full report costs $29.00, paid once.
BEFORE YOU PAY
Creating an account and uploading your file are free, and your file is opened and checked before you are charged.
WHO RUNS IT
ReadYourDNA is built and run by Martin Pechhacker, a molecular biologist and bioinformatician in Vienna, Austria.
PRIVACY
ReadYourDNA deletes your DNA file once its analysis finishes and never sells your results; the site loads no trackers or cookies, and deleting your results is permanent, because genetic data is in no backup.
ReadYourDNA works with raw data from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA, and with whole-genome VCF and gVCF files. A raw data file can be .txt, .csv or .gz, or the .zip the service sends; a sequencing file .vcf or .vcf.gz. Files up to 10 GB can be uploaded, and a large uncompressed export is compressed in your browser before it is sent. For whole-genome sequencing, both the VCF of variant calls and the full gVCF work, on GRCh37 (hg19) and on GRCh38 (hg38). Our guides take a 23andMe file and an AncestryDNA file apart line by line.
Yes. Paying accounts can use the genome assistant, an AI chat that answers questions from your finished reports, up to 50 questions a day. It never sees your raw file: it looks up the parts of your results a question needs. It stays off until you turn it on. Once it is on, your questions and those parts of your results go to Google's Gemini API, which processes them on our behalf and does not use them to train its models, and you can turn it off again in your account settings. Its answers are educational, like the reports: never start, stop, or change any medication or treatment based on them.
Once you upload your file, the complete analysis - including polygenic scores, pharmacogenomics, variant annotation and carrier status - takes about 15 minutes, sometimes a little longer for a whole-genome file. Most of that is the polygenic-score stage. You do not have to wait on the page: the progress bar shows a live estimate, and sections unlock as they finish.
ReadYourDNA deletes your DNA file once its analysis finishes and never sells your results; the site loads no trackers or cookies, and deleting your results is permanent, because genetic data is in no backup. While it is here it is encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM) and in transit (TLS), kept in a folder that does not name you, and the server logs that hold IP addresses are deleted after 14 days. How to check this yourself; full details in our Privacy Policy.
No. ReadYourDNA is for educational and informational purposes only. Results are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The methodology page lists what a genotyping chip can and cannot tell you.
ReadYourDNA is built and run by Martin Pechhacker, a molecular biologist and bioinformatician in Vienna, Austria. He runs it as a sole proprietor, trade register GISA 40064420, VAT ATU83577568. The full address and the supervisory authority are on the Legal and Contact page, and the trade register number can be looked up on the public Austrian business register. Support mail reaches him directly and he answers, normally within 48 hours.
Two things are already true and they are the whole answer. Your file and your reports are yours to delete from your account settings at any moment, and deletion is permanent, because genetic data is excluded from every backup and is therefore not recoverable from one. And there is no company here to be sold: a sole proprietorship has no shares and no customer database to transfer, which is the mechanism that normally puts genetic data on the market. If you want nothing held here at all, download what you want to keep and delete the account.
Your file is opened and checked before you are charged. Upload it first. If we cannot find DNA data in it, you are told so on the spot, in plain English, and nothing has been paid. If the file is accepted and the analysis then fails, you have not received what you paid for, and we refund it; a free analysis that fails can be run again.
Starting with ReadYourDNA is free: after the upload you choose 5 health and 10 lifestyle traits to see at no charge, and the full report costs $29.00, paid once. The free start runs the same analysis on your file as the full report, so ordering later opens everything at once, without a second wait. A trait you unlock stays unlocked, and picks cannot be swapped for others. Medications, carrier status, your variants and the genome assistant come with the full report.
There is no laboratory, no kit, no shipping, no subscription and no sales team. The file already exists and you already paid for it once. What it costs to read is computer time, so that is what is charged, once.
This depends entirely on where you live, and the rules differ a lot between countries. In the United States, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA, 2008) makes it illegal for health insurers and most employers (15+ employees) to use your genetic information against you, but GINA does not cover life, disability, or long-term-care insurance, and some protections vary by state. Elsewhere the position is different: some countries bar insurers from using genetic results outright, some regulate only certain policies, and some do not restrict insurers at all. Check the position where you live before you disclose any result to an insurer or an employer, and see “Your Rights By Country” in our Privacy Policy. We never sell your data, and we never share it with insurers or employers.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR RESULTS
A polygenic score (PGS) combines the effects of many genetic variants to estimate your predisposition for a particular trait or condition. Unlike single-gene tests, a PGS considers many variants at once - from a few dozen for some traits up to hundreds of thousands for others - for a more comprehensive picture.
A Risk variant means your genotype is associated with a higher-than-average likelihood for a trait or condition. Protective means your genotype is associated with a lower-than-average likelihood. These are statistical tendencies, not diagnoses.
No. Pharmacogenomic results are informational only. Always consult your physician or pharmacist before making any medication changes. Our results can be a useful starting point for a conversation with your doctor.
Being a carrier means you have one copy of a variant associated with a recessive genetic condition. Carriers typically don't develop the condition themselves but can pass the variant to their children. If both parents are carriers, there's a 25% chance their child could be affected. ReadYourDNA annotates which ClinVar-pathogenic variants appear in your uploaded data; it does not determine your carrier status, and confirming carrier status requires a clinical-grade test.
Our analysis integrates data from multiple authoritative sources including ClinVar (clinical significance), PharmGKB (drug-gene interactions), PGS Catalog (polygenic scores), and published GWAS studies for variant annotations.
Our scores are based on peer-reviewed research and established scoring models. However, genetic predisposition is just one factor - lifestyle, environment, and other variables also play significant roles. Results should be interpreted as risk tendencies, not clinical diagnoses.
Yes - every genome gets the same reports. Nearly all published polygenic scores were developed in European-ancestry cohorts, so every percentile is a rank against a European-ancestry reference population, and each trait’s Study Details states this next to the studies themselves. The further your ancestry is from that reference, the rougher the estimate. Accuracy varies across ancestral backgrounds, and we are working to incorporate more diverse research data.
Can't find what you're looking for? Write to support@readyourdna.com. Martin, who built the site, answers, normally within 48 hours.
Raw DNA Data Reports for 23andMe & AncestryDNA · About ReadYourDNA · FAQ · Methodology & Science · Pricing · Support and complaints · Legal & Contact · Health Traits · Pharmacogenomics · Carrier Status · Variant Explorer · The Human Karyotype · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Accessibility · Consumer Health Data Privacy · Your Privacy Choices · Editorial Standards · Your Data, Checkable · Sample Report · ReadYourDNA and Promethease compared · What is inside a 23andMe raw data file · What is inside an AncestryDNA raw data file · What a chatbot can and cannot do with your raw DNA file · Where a raw DNA file can still be uploaded in 2026
Written, maintained and operated by Martin Pechhacker, sole proprietor, Vienna, Austria. Trade register GISA 40064420. support@readyourdna.com