ABSTRACT

Technological developments such as genetic testing grow from projections of what is possible in the future. GenULuv shook up the online dating market when it started operations on 14 February 2023. GenULuv has a straightforward business model: it charges people to register for its compatibility matchings, and at the same time collects their genetic material. The 2041 discovery has subsequently led to the unravelling of a global network of websites, blogs, videos, tweets and fora comments related to direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, and to connections with previously unexplained archaeological ruins in an Indian waste disposal site, of what we now know are 'spit kits' used in the testing process. The initial discoveries of user accounts were made during this dismantling, in Row 2.134, in warehouse AC612 of the server farm. Further excavation of these user profiles revealed that they were part of a much denser DTC genetic testing network.