The thing that people are itching to know is what DNA really reveals about their health. An article found in the Washington Post discusses how these two subjects are linked to each other and if there is a correlation between genes and healthiness. A company called 23andMe suggests that if someone spits in a tube and mails it to them for $99, that person would receive an analysis six to eight weeks later showing what their DNA says about their risk for disease. The website sounds quite promising when it states "Knowing how your genes may impact your health can help you plan for the future and personalize your health care with your doctor," and "You’ll have access to navigational tools that enable you to explore your genome and discover a whole new world of you."
23andMe is located in Mountain View, California and is one of a few companies that offer genetic tests. A company by the name of GenePlanet is lcoated in Slovenia and allows for a test of $518 (399 euros) to tell someone their best diet according to their genotype. Although these claims seem hard to believe, real science lies behind some of their procedures. The tests look at a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which is a type of genetic variation. A SNP is a single alteration to one of the nucleotides (C,G,A,T).
How the tests calculate the risk of someone getting a disease is based on a comparison of SNPs of someone with a specific condition with those not having that condition. There is no proof of a cause-and-effect relationship between a SNP common among certain people that would allow them to have some condition due to this variation. David Kaufman, researcher from Johns Hopkins University, discusses that someone who has the SNP is not definitely going to get the disease and someone that does not have it also has the chance of getting that same disease.
Many diseases do have a correlation to genetics but, Jeff Murray says that very few diseases come down to one single gene or even genetics alone. A great example to support how genetics do not determine what a person becomes diagnosed with is identical twins. They have the same DNA yet rarely end up with the same medical conditions proving that genes alone cannot predict disease. Other factors play into it such as randomness, environmental exposure, and other things out of human control.
This was really cool! I personally have considered getting my genetic code done because I have always found it interesting. Although after reading this I may reconsider that since it seems like it wouldn't be such a great predictor of future illnesses. I do believe however that there can be some merit to this. For example, if someone has a lot of genetic illness in their families or something really unfortunate such as Huntington's then they might benefit from such a test. Either way this is definitely a great topic to look into.
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