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Kit Order Terms and Conditions

Please read your order's terms and conditions below.

By ordering our whole genome sequencing service, you're about to embark on an amazing journey of self-discovery.

Sequencing.com's whole genome sequencing service will provide data on approximately 3 billion positions throughout your genome.

You own your DNA data.
You will receive your raw DNA data in several different file formats including paired FASTQ, genome VCF that includes single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and insertions and deletions variants, structural variations (SV) VCF and copy number variations (CNV) VCF. A BAM file and mitochondrial heteroplasmy (MITO) VCF are also available, if requested. The BAM and VCFs will be aligned to reference genome GRCh38.
You’ll also receive an Ultimate Compatibility File in txt format. This file is designed to enable you to upload a subset of your genome data to third-party sites that may not be compatible with the larger fastq, bam, and vcf files.
Once your whole genome sequencing service has completed, you’ll be able to access, download, and permanently delete your raw DNA data files.
There is no fee for accessing, downloading, sharing, or permanently deleting your raw DNA data.

If you're considering whole genome sequencing to address a specific question, it's crucial to recognize that the results of such sequencing and subsequent analyses:

May provide answers to your specific question.
May not provide answers to your specific question.
May reveal information that is currently not fully understood.
May identify unrelated but significant findings, such as findings concerning your health, known as secondary findings.
May uncover unexpected information about familial relationships.

Our whole genome sequencing service and the Ultimate DNA Test are unique to Sequencing.com and are only available for purchase at Sequencing.com. These services cannot be purchased through any other site or store other than Sequencing.com and through Sequencing.com’s Amazon store.

When you purchase our whole genome sequencing service or the Ultimate DNA Test, a DNA collection kit will be mailed to you at your shipping address provided at the time you place your order. This DNA collection kit is easy to use and requires only gently rubbing swabs on the inside of the mouth. After following the instructions included within the DNA collection kit, return the swabs using the return shipping materials. You must complete and return your DNA collection kit within 180 days of when you place your order or at least 90 days before the expiration date on the DNA collection kit, whichever is sooner. DNA collection kits received by the laboratory after this period may not be processed.

Once you place your order for either our whole genome sequencing service or the Ultimate DNA Test, all sales are final and non-refundable.

Your DNA collection kit for our whole genome sequencing service and our Ultimate DNA Test will be shipped from a third-party laboratory (our “Laboratory Partners”) or DNA collection kit fulfillment center.

The DNA collection kits for Sequencing.com's Ultimate DNA Test include prepaid return shipping for all kits. The kits for Sequencing.com's Whole Genome Sequencing include prepaid return shipping only for kits shipped to the United States. If you order our whole genome sequencing service and do not live in the United States, you will have to pay for return shipping of the kit back to the laboratory located in the United States as well as any customs fees amd VAT. Instructions for returning the kit back to the laboratory will be provided with your DNA collection kit.

The DNA collection kit will include instructions for how to use the DNA collection device to obtain a sample of your DNA. As part of using your kit, the kit must first be activated by the person using the kit or that person’s representative or legal guardian. Our whole genome sequencing kits must be activated online at Sequencing.com here while the instructions for where to go online (the activation link) to activate our Ultimate DNA Test will be included within your Ultimate DNA Test kit.

Activating your kit is a required step. If your kit is not activated before being returned to the laboratory, the kit may not be processed by the laboratory and you will not be able to receive your data. If a kit is returned to the laboratory without first being activated, the kit must be activated within 30 calendar days of the kit being received by the laboratory or else the kit will be destroyed, which means genome sequencing of that kit's DNA will no longer be possible. If you forgot to activate your kit, please immediately contact Sequencing.com Support.

As part of our whole genome sequencing service and our Ultimate DNA Test, your DNA data will be stored in your Sequencing.com account. You own your raw DNA data and can access your data at any time.

For our whole genome sequencing service, if you do not already have a Sequencing.com account registered to your email address, when you activate your kit, a Sequencing.com account will be automatically created and registered to your email address. Having an active Sequencing.com account is required to process your DNA collection kit and receive your data and results. Sequencing.com accounts are free.

In the event that a payment method is not already stored within your Sequencing.com account, the initial payment method provided will be securely stored on-file to facilitate future transactions. The protection of your payment details is maintained in compliance with PCI standards, with Stripe serving as our designated payment processor.

For the Ultimate DNA Test, when activating the DNA collection kit, a free account will be opened with the Laboratory Partner that will be registered to the email address of the person (or the person's representative or guardian) that is activating the kit. The Laboratory Partner will send the activation information and DNA data for each activated kit to Sequencing.com. If you do not wish to have an account with Sequencing.com and our Laboratory Partner, and for your DNA data to be held on both sites, you should not order Sequencing.com's Ultimate DNA Test. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Service of Living DNA, the Laboratory Partner for the Ultimate DNA Test, will apply to your data, including your DNA data, stored with the Laboratory Partner.

After following the instructions included within the DNA collection kit to collect your DNA sample, you’ll return your DNA kit to a third-party laboratory for processing. We will provide our Laboratory Partners and DNA kit fulfillment center with only the basic information needed to fulfill the order, ship the DNA collection kit to you, and process your DNA sample. We will not share your billing information with our Laboratory Partners but will pass on your payments to them. We work with multiple Laboratory Partners and may change Laboratory Partners at any time.

Once your DNA kit is received by the laboratory, the processing performed upon the sample in that kit will be determined by the product or bundle you ordered through Sequencing.com (either our whole genome sequencing service or our Ultimate DNA Test). You'll receive an email notification when the processing of your DNA kit has been completed and your raw DNA data is available for you to access in your Sequencing.com account.

Once the whole genome sequencing service or Ultimate DNA Test for your DNA collection kit has been completed, your raw DNA data will pass through Sequencing.com's proprietary bioinformatics data processing pipeline. Your raw DNA data will then be stored and accessible to you at Sequencing.com.

For our whole genome sequencing service, your raw DNA data is only stored in, and accessible from, your Sequencing.com account.

For the Ultimate DNA Test, a smaller subset of your DNA data may also be stored and accessible to you at the Laboratory Partner's site. The raw DNA data stored and accessible to you at the Laboratory Partner's site is not the entire DNA data from the Ultimate DNA Test. Your entire DNA dataset from the Ultimate DNA Test will only be accessible to you in your Sequencing.com account.

Our whole genome sequencing service includes 30x whole genome sequencing and advanced bioinformatics processing, including alignment and variant calling. The laboratory will sequence your genome an average of 30 times (known as an average depth of 30, also referred to as 30x WGS). Our whole genome sequencing service includes sequencing all genes and all chromosomes including the autosomes, sex chromosomes, and mitochondrial chromosome. When we refer to 100% of your genome being sequenced as part of our whole genome sequencing service, this refers to the sequencing machine attempting to sequence every nucleotide within your genome, which is approximately 3 billion data points. While our whole genome sequencing service will attempt to sequence every nucleotide, some regions in your genome may be difficult to sequence or may provide less than 30x coverage. We do not guarantee that a specific region of your genome will be able to be sequenced to 30x or that a specific region of the genome will not contain any no-calls. For example, regions surrounding the centromere and long regions of repeated sequences such as telomeres may provide less than 30x coverage and may not generate sufficient raw data for alignment or variant calling within those regions. While the raw data will contain data on Short Tandem Repeat (STR) variants and variants in low complexity regions (LCRs) such as homopolymers (HPs), these types of variants will likely not be called because algorithms for accurately calling these types of variants in whole genome sequencing data are still in development. Chromosome-level variations, such as Klinefelter Syndrome and Down Syndrome, may not be detected, may not be identifiable in the raw data, or may not appear in the analysis performed by the DNA analysis apps and reports provided as part of a bundle or from the Sequencing.com Marketplace.

When you purchase our whole genome sequencing service, it's important to understand the scope of data and analysis provided. Our service detects a wide range of genetic variants, including small nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertion-deletion variants (InDels) up to kilobases in size, copy number variations (CNVs), structural variations (SVs), and mitochondrial heteroplasmy, all of which are included in the raw data files (fastq and vcf) we supply. It’s important to note, however, that not all types of genetic variants detected may be included in the analyses or results generated by our DNA analysis apps and reports, such as the Next-Gen Disease Screen (NGDS), Genome Explorer (GE), Health Scan (HS), and the DNA reports available with your kit or through our Marketplace. Specifically, CNVs, SVs, and mitochondrial heteroplasmy variants, while present in the raw data, might not be reflected in the analysis or results. For example, a loss of 5Mb of a chromosome that's included in the raw data as a copy number variant loss of 5Mb in the CNV file may not appear in the analyses and results of our apps and reports. The interpretation of these complex genetic variants might necessitate consultation with a genetic counselor, geneticist, or other specialists. Please be aware that the costs for such professional consultations are not included in your purchase of the whole genome sequencing service and may incur additional fees.

As part of our bioinformatics processing of raw DNA data, our bioinformatics software helps ensure only the highest quality data is analyzed by the DNA analysis apps and reports available through our site. This includes applying strict quality control thresholds to each of the 3+ billion data points within your whole genome sequencing data. If a data point, also known as a ‘genotypic call at a specific chromosomal coordinate’ as well as a ‘result for a' variant,’ does not pass our quality thresholds, the data point will be changed to a ‘no call.’ No calls are not used as part of the analysis performed by a DNA analysis app or report. Due to there being more than 3 billion data points, every genome that is sequenced will contain some data that is determined to be no calls. No calls cannot be predicted prior to the sequencing process, are to be expected, and due to our strict quality control thresholds, cannot be avoided.

As part of our whole genome sequencing service, we provide an Ultimate Compatibility File in txt format. This file is provided to facilitate you being able to upload and use your DNA data with third-party sites since many third-party sites are not compatible with the standard raw data files from whole genome sequencing (fastq and vcf files). While this file is specifically designed to be compatible with many third-party sites, we don’t guarantee compatibility. To upload a file to a third-party site, you'll first have to download the file from your Sequencing account and then upload it to the third-party site. Due to our strict privacy policies, we cannot assist in uploading any your files to third-party sites. We do not recommend using your Ultimate Compatibility File for purposes other than genetic genealogy at third-party sites because the file will contain only a small subset of your total DNA data and will be aligned to GRCh37, an older version of the human reference genome. This is necessary because many third-party sites can only process a small amount of DNA data and are also only compatible with data aligned to GRCh37. Please note this special processing only applies to the Ultimate Compatibility File. Your fastq files will contain all of your DNA data and your vcf files will be aligned to GRCh38, the latest version of the human reference genome.

Starting from when the laboratory receives your returned DNA collection kit, the estimated turnaround time for whole genome sequencing with standard kits is around 10-12 weeks, around 6-8 weeks with Expedited kits, and around 2-3 weeks with Ultra Rapid (previously referred to as Premium Expedited) kits. When the laboratory is very busy, turnaround times may be extended by several weeks. Turnaround times are estimates and are not guaranteed. Refunds will not be issued due to turnaround times beyond the estimates. Learn more about turnaround times.

Our Laboratory Partners may not be able to process your sample, and the laboratory process may result in errors. The Laboratory Partners may not be able to process your sample if your DNA collection swabs do not contain a sufficient volume of DNA, the included DNA collection kit is not properly used, or the results from processing do not meet our standards for quality. Learn more about kit-related issues.

Our policy on re-processing failed samples:

• If the initial processing of your DNA collection kit fails for any reason, we will reprocess the same DNA sample for no additional charge. If there’s insufficient quantity or quality of DNA remaining in the DNA sample, we’ll send you a new DNA collection kit for no additional charge.

• If the second attempt to process the sample fails, we will offer to send another sample collection kit to collect another sample at no charge.

• If the third attempt to process the sample is unsuccessful, we will not send additional sample collection kits and the customer will be entitled solely and exclusively to a complete refund of the amount paid, less shipping and handling. Once a refund is provided, the customer should not resubmit another sample through a future purchase of our whole genome sequencing service or the Ultimate DNA Test.

Note: If the user breaches this policy agreement and resubmits another sample through a future purchase of whole genome sequencing or the Ultimate DNA Test and processing is not successful, we will not offer to reprocess the sample or provide the customer a refund. Even for processing that meets our high standards, a small, unknown fraction of the data generated during the laboratory process may be un-interpretable or incorrect. As this possibility is known in advance for customers who previously had three re-processing attempts for a failed sample as discussed above, these customers are not entitled to refunds if another sample fails when that sample is submitted through a future purchase.

Our whole genome sequencing service may be sold as a bundle. For example, a whole genome sequencing bundle may include a DNA collection kit, laboratory processing, one or more DNA analysis reports, and one or more months of our Genome Plan subscription. The bundle is linked to the DNA collection kit included with the order. If you give the DNA collection kit as a gift, the bundle that was ordered with that kit will automatically transfer with the kit.

When you purchase or activate a DNA collection kit that's part of a bundle that includes SequencingAI Technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will automatically process the genetic data obtained from the kit to generate the bundle’s DNA analysis reports. For example, if the bundle includes SequencingAI-Generated Reports, as part of the bioinformatics analysis of the genetic data obtained from that kit, the AI will process the genetic data to generate these reports. For additional information on how we utilize AI, please review Sequencing's AI Use Policy.

Your purchase of a bundle may also include access to one or more DNA analysis apps and reports in our Marketplace as well as one or more months of Sequencing.com’s Genome Plan subscription service. By ordering a bundle that includes one or more months of a Genome Plan, you’re opting in to Sequencing.com’s Genome Plan service. This subscription service enables your DNA data to be transformed into clear solutions for health, wellness, nutrition, fitness, genealogy, and more. The subscription included with your kit will begin after your DNA test is completed and your DNA data is available in your Sequencing.com account. With the amazing DNA-personalized insights you'll be receiving on an ongoing basis, we're confident you'll find your subscription an excellent value.

If a Genome Plan subscription is included with a DNA kit bundle, the subscription will automatically renew each month (if one or months of a Genome Plan are included with the kit bundle) or each year (if one or more years of Genome Plan are included with the kit bundle). Our whole genome sequencing DNA kits that include one or months of a Genome Plan are grandfathered into the monthly renewal timeframe for Genome Plans. Monthly renewals can only be obtained by ordering a whole genome sequencing DNA collection kit bundle that includes one or more months of a Genome Plan. For kit bundles with one or more months or years of a Genome Plan, the included Genome Plan will start once that kit's sequencing has completed and the DNA data has been added to your account. The included Genome Plan will renew each month or year and will continue until you modify or downgrade your Genome Plan to a Free Plan. If the Genome Plan is modified or downgraded to a Free Plan, the only Genome Plans you’ll be able to sign up for thereafter will be annual Genome Plans (plans that have annual renewals).

You may modify and downgrade the subscription to a Free Plan at any time and for any reason. There is no commitment with the Genome Plan included with your Kit Bundle (no minimum is required) and there is also no cancellation fee. Please refer to our Genome Plan Terms (previously referred to as ‘Membership Terms’) for additional information.

If you do not want to continue with the Genome Plan included with your kit, after your kit completes sequencing and your Genome Plan starts, you may modify or downgrade your Genome Plan to Free before the renewal date by signing into your account, going to Account Settings, and selecting the 'Membership' tab. If you do not modify or downgrade your Genome Plan to the Free Plan before the renewal date, it will automatically renew on the renewal date. You may modify and downgrade your Genome Plan subscription to a Free Plan at any time, but all subscription fees already paid are non-refundable.

If we are unable to process a payment for our whole genome sequencing service or our Ultimate DNA Test, such as if your payment method is declined or there's a chargeback (also referred to as a 'dispute' or a 'disputed charge'), we reserve the right to pursue any remedy that is available to us, including, but not limited to, the right to suspend your account, as well as pursue collection of the balance owed. The balance owed may include additional fees incurred as a result of the chargeback. Suspended accounts cannot be canceled. If your account is suspended due to non-payment, your account suspension will be lifted and your account will become accessible once full payment of the balance owed is received. If a chargeback is initiated on an order that includes a DNA collection kit, in addition to account suspension, your order may be immediately canceled. If the chargeback is initiated after the DNA kit is already being processed by the Laboratory Partner or completed, access to the raw DNA data and any DNA analysis apps and reports in your account may be blocked and your raw DNA data and apps and reports may be permanently deleted.

Please contact Sequencing.com Support with questions regarding your order.

Additional Information:

1-833-544-0001 toll free Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm (EST)