Ancestry Pulling Health DNA Test Just Over a Year After Launch

Ancestry.com LLC is ending a 15-month effort to sell customers genetic insights into their health, the latest sign of trouble in the consumer DNA-testing industry.

Best known for its products that allow customers to explore their family trees, the company launched AncestryHealth in October 2019 in a long-expected bid to compete with 23andMe Inc. and other companies that sell tests that can, for example, show a person’s risk of developing certain genetic diseases. But last year, both companies cut jobs as sales of DNA tests slowed.

On Thursday, Ancestry said it would discontinue AncestryHealth to focus on its family-tree business, ...