Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Genetic Tests:Experts Urge Caution Over Home Testing

Researchers are advising people to not make health decisions based on genetic test like 23 and me.  All though 23 and me says many people sought out preventive treatments and test after receiving their DNA results.  The tests look at direct to consumer genetic test and not at people with a family history of a disease.  Even though the test says you could have  a disease it does not mean a person will develop that disease.  Some tests gave people the wrong results stating that they have a high risk of developing cancer.  This made customers become paranoid that they will get cancer.  Tests like 23 and me only look at certain diseases that are found on genes. There are thousands of different genes certain diseases can be found on.  When questioned a spokesperson from 23 and me said they tell customers that they only test for certain genetic diseases.  Many people using genetic tests have taken their results to the doctor and were given preventive care.  Professor Stokes-Lampard says you shouldn't take the test for fun.  Since it can result in serious implications.  She also says, doing theses tests puts you at risk for privacy of family member and is a waste of time, money and resources.

Pipettes containing blood for testing

Article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50069155
Related Article:
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/testing/riskslimitations

1 comment:

  1. There's a saying the less you know the better, while that is not true I think the saying can be applied in this situation. Like we have learned, whether it's from a genetics class or biology class, an individual has a load of bad gene but they are not always expressed. Nothing wrong to taking information from 23 and me and seeing if you carry these bad genes but that does not mean one should take those finding to heart. I feel like the paranoia these people feel from seeing the results probably does more damage then those bad genes they found in their results.

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