DNA testing is rapidly evolving; new technologies are being introduced that were previously not existent or unaffordable for consumers, such as whole genome sequencing, which can provide deep health insights useful to future generations in one’s family. New DNA products and technologies require testing a biological sample and cannot rely on digital data extracted from an older technology. This makes it valuable to preserve DNA samples long-term.
Once new DNA products and services become available, we will offer those services to customers who store their samples in the BioBank, without the need to take a new test, subject to their consent and to the availability of those products and services in their country. The benefit of keeping the actual sample is that we can use it to analyze the DNA again - and we need the actual biological DNA sample - so that we can do whole genome sequencing to look at SNPs . In addition, storing your DNA sample in the BioBank is different from downloading your raw DNA data: MyHeritage raw DNA data cannot be uploaded to a MyHeritage family site but only to other vendors.
Sample storage in the BioBank is also important in case the person who took the DNA test is no longer alive and it is no longer possible to have their DNA tested. Another benefit of the BioBank is that MyHeritage provides the option of mailing any BioBank customer their original DNA samples via courier upon the customer’s request, subject to an additional shipping & processing fee, to allow the customer to use the DNA samples outside of MyHeritage.