ME

23andme Holding Co

A pioneer of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, this company sells DNA test kits that customers use by spitting into a tube, then mails back for reports on ancestry, traits, and health predispositions. Founded in 2006 in Palo Alto by Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey, it helped make personal genomics mainstream. The name comes from the 23 pairs of chromosomes in human DNA — and the word "and" is a wink, since spelled backwards it reads "DNA."