 What if a simple test could tell you how likely you were to develop diabetes or get cancer or suffer from Alzheimer's? What if the same test provided hints on living a healthier and fuller life? And what if all of this was available for a modest sum without going through your healthcare provider or shelling out a small fortune in health insurance? As the cost of genetic sequencing and data analysis have plummeted, the worlds of genetics, information and medicine have mashed together to enable incredible new insights into who we are and what our futures might entail. At the forefront of this revolution in personal genome exploration is the company 23andMe. For the past several years 23andMe have been taking spit samples from individuals and sequencing critical sections of their genome to provide insights into everything from ancestral roots to a person's propensity to develop certain diseases. The service is a mix of the educational and the informative, and it's just been given a cease and desist order by the US Food and Drug Administration. The problem from the FDA's perspective is that 23andMe's product, their DNA spit kit, should be classified as a medical device. It's intended for use in diagnosing and addressing health conditions. And because of this, there are standards that need to be attained before FDA allows use, including ensuring that any medical information the user receives is appropriately accurate. FDA are concerned that if people start to self-medicate or even make decisions on surgery based on 23andMe's spit test when the analysis is misleading, the product has shifted from providing interesting information to being a significant threat to health. This makes a lot of sense, but FDA's approach to medical device regulation was never meant to cover personal direct-to-consumer health products that can simultaneously offer massively integrated insights into health issues and opportunities. In other words, 23andMe's product is so out there that it's challenging how emerging technologies like these are regulated. And this is important because we can't put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to personalised genome analysis. This is an emerging technology that, like all other technologies, comes with its own flavours of benefits and risks. And like other disruptive technologies, it's also disrupting the way we handle impacts. How things will shake out with this one is anyone's guess at the moment, but one thing seems certain. FDA's decision is going to force a conversation around some really tough questions around the use of personal genome technologies, questions like, should FDA regulations be amended to fit today's personal genome testing reality? Or how useful or dangerous are personalised health information services like 23andMe's? And what about the ethics? If we can create an albeit cloudy crystal ball that gives us a glimpse into our health future, should people be denied this service? Or are we just not grown up enough for this yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and keep an eye on this one as the outcome is likely to be important for the future of direct consumer health profiling.