Genetic Testing Is We Ready Yet - amazonia.fiocruz.br

Really: Genetic Testing Is We Ready Yet

Genetic Testing Is We Ready Yet Video

In springexcitement about the future of genetic science and its potential to dramatically advance the course of disease prevention and treatment was running high. That April, the National Institutes of Health NIH announced that researchers had completed the first full sequence of the human genome—the biological instructions for building the human body, decoded from 3 billion twisted strands of DNA. This knowledge, Genetjc, is also being used toward somewhat less profound ends.

Claim 2: Testing Can Uncover Where Your Ancestors Are From

An endeavor that originally involved billions of government dollars and collaboration among thousands of scientists around the globe https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/essay/media-request-css/intelligence-intelligence-data-collection-programs.php yielded not just medical Rrady but also a slew of consumer products in the form of at-home genetic tests. For a relatively modest fee, anyone can purchase a direct-to-consumer DTC genetic test kit.

Users spit into a tube or swab the inside of their mouth to obtain DNA molecules that form the building blocks Genetic Testing Is We Ready Yet genesmail the sample off, and receive an analysis a few weeks later. The kits are wildly popular: About 1 in 5 Americans has taken a DTC genetic test, according to an October Consumer Reports nationally representative survey https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/essay/is-lafayette-a-hidden-ivy/why-intervention-is-a-fundamental-principle-of.php 2, U. And brands such as 23andMe and Ancestry are household names. Manufacturers offer a variety of possibilities, including matching you with unknown relatives, telling you which country your ancestors came from, revealing your risk of certain illnesses, and even determining which diet is best for you.

But while these tests may offer potentially valuable genealogical or medical insights, experts say results may be easy to misinterpret or could be based on a misapplication of the science. And once data about your genes is shared, it can be sold or even potentially used to discriminate against you. He says they will typically order tests focused only on that particular question, such as your inherited risk of cancer.

If you send away your saliva for DTC genetic testing, however, the lab will look at a whole range of variants that have been linked—sometimes quite loosely—to a number of traits, some not related to your health at all.

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A DTC test is more like throwing a net into the ocean and seeing what comes back. Here are four common claims from the manufacturers of these products, whether they deliver, and what to know about their potential pitfalls. How it works: To determine whether you might be related to another person in its customer database, a DTC testing company considers how many identical segments of DNA you have in common and the length of those segments.

The further away a relative is on the family tree, however, the less certain the results. The drawbacks: While a test might unearth a previously unknown cousin who becomes your new best friend, you could also learn something negative or even shocking about a family member or relationship.

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How it works: Companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe say they can tell you the regions—and sometimes even the countries—where your eW originated, based on your DNA. One common strategy looks for variations in your genetic code that have been found to be statistically more likely in people from certain regions. The testing company then gives you an estimate of the percentage of your DNA that comes from such areas.

For example, your result might show that 40 percent of your DNA comes Ie Europe and 60 percent comes from Asia. Different test makers may rely on different sets of data, including, often, some from their own customers—which can skew findings. Also, the fewer samples a company has from a certain region, the more limited its ability to tell you whether you have ancestors from that area. Another concern: The databases often have genetic details on people whose families came from a particular region in the recent past. But ancestry stretches back much further than, say, our grandparents.

What all this means for consumers, according to Mwenza Blell, PhD, a biosocial medical anthropologist at Newcastle University in the U. This testing also has an unintended social consequence, experts say.]