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FORTUNE.COM // JANUARY 2020
DESPITE OUR better instincts
concerning data security,
genetics companies like
23andMe are massively pop-
ular—with the $800 million
global market for direct-to-
consumer genetic testing
projected to triple in five
years. Whereas most ser-
vices analyze multiple genes
for inheritable health condi-
tions, Singapore-based
startup ELXR is focused
on just one: ACTN3. Known
as the “gene for speed,” it
influences the composition
of muscle tissue, creatingA FITNESS
REGIME
PLANNED BY
YOUR GENES
Tesla’s $100 DepositKeeps Shorts at Bay
For the price of a nice dinner for two, you can
“order” a Cybertruck. By David Z. MorrisAUTO THE NOVEMBER unveiling of Tesla’s Cyber-
truck was met with raised eyebrows, and
not all were about its bizarro postapocalyptic design.
Tesla revealed impressively low pricing—the Cyber-
truck will start at $39,900—but a stunt intended to
demonstrate the truck’s toughness ended with two
“bulletproof ” windows shattered.
All in all, hopes were dashed that Tesla could moveMusk announced
“orders” for the
Cybertruck had
reached 250,000.
Impressive, non?
Well, that depends
on how you define
an “order.” Musk was
actually citing fully
refundable $100 de-
posits, or 0.25% of
the cost of even the
cheapest Cybertruck.
According to Ed-
munds, the average
down payment for
an auto loan is now
11.7%—so $4,
for an entry-level
Cybertruck. The low
commitment raises
questions about how
many of those will
turn into actual sales
when production
starts in late 2021.
But the short-term
PR boost was real.
Tesla’s stock had
recovered most of
its post-Cybertruck
nosedive within a
few weeks.HEALTH
A Tesla Cybertruck ...
or a scene from a 1995
video game?aggressively into
the wildly lucrative
(and currently gas-
guzzling) Ameri-
can truck market
with such a radical
design. Credit Suisse
analysts said legacy
truckmakers could
“breathe a sigh of re-
lief.” Tesla’s stock fell
more than 6% after
the unveiling.
But in the follow-
ing days, CEO Elonmore fast-twitch fibers as-
sociated with sprinters and
powerlifters. (Those without
ACTN3 are predisposed to
be better endurance ath-
letes.) Combining analysis
of users’ current fitness
level and exercise goals withtheir ACTN3 count—ELXR
creates a personalized
fitness regimen. “It was like
a eureka moment,” says
ELXR founder Steffan Fung,
a former member of the
Singapore Special Forces,
on using the gene to design
workouts. While the science
behind ACTN3 is sound,
the gene can indicate only
which types of exercise you
are best suited for, not how
good you will be at them. So
don’t think you’ll be chal-
lenging Usain Bolt anytime
soon. —NAOMI XU ELEGANT