sooner this month , when consumer genetic examination behemoth 23andMe announce plans to twine outthe first consumer test for breast cancer danger , the word attracted some heftycriticism from the medical community . Sure , consumer desoxyribonucleic acid tests allow masses to observe out data about their health without a potentially pricey and inconvenient visit to the doctor . But without a doctor to help oneself parse the effect , some worry that at - base genetic trial may be misleading , stir up gratuitous anxiousness or a faux sense of security .
There is , though , a growing grocery store for the in - between : scurvy - price , at - dwelling house transmitted tests that require a medico to order them . This hebdomad , the genomics company Color roll up out their late oblation in this realm , a $ 249 testfor hereditary heart wellness . The psychometric test analyze 30 genes to await for peril of a wide range of patrimonial warmness conditions , including cardiac arrhythmias , cardiomyopathies , and arteriopathies . Mutations in those 30 genes can lead to serious conditions . Like the rest of Color ’s familial tests , the idea is that a customer would work with their doctor to do up with a program to notice conditions too soon and prevent serious aesculapian problems .
Most health precondition ca n’t be boiled down to whether or not you have one single inherited variation . Take 23andMe ’s BRCA test . The test await for only three of the more than 1,000 have a go at it BRCA mutant , and looks at mutations most common among hoi polloi of Ashkenazi Jewish lineage . Not to mention that , even with BRCA gene , in which having a sure mutation means an unusually high risk of recrudesce breast or ovarian cancer , other factors like a individual ’s lifestyle also play a role in whether they will finally wind up the disease . How all of that translates to hardheaded wellness info , though , can be hard to wrap your head around without the help of an expert to parse the details .
For that grounds , we may see a windfall in psychometric test like Color , which offer stepped - down prices for genetical testing alongside physician expertise .
23andMegenetic testingScience
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , science , and culture tidings in your inbox daily .
word from the future , delivered to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
