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$999 For a Complete DNA Scan, Worth it?
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Dec 03, 2007 01:03 PM
from the something-to-think-about dept.
from the something-to-think-about dept.
DoroSurfer writes "ZDNet is reporting that 23andme.com will open its doors on Monday, allowing you to send them a cheek swab and have your DNA analyzed for $999 (plus shipping, of course... ;)). So what's a thousand bucks buy you? They can tell you your ancient ancestry, They can tell you what diseases you're predisposed to, They give you a "Gene Explorer" that allows you to do a search in your genome to find out if you have a certain gene (e.g., you just heard on the news that Gene XYZ has been linked to Alzheimer's Disease)."
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California Cracks Down On Genetic Testing 165 comments
genie-out-of-the-bottle writes "California's Department of Public Health has sent cease-and-desist notices to 13 companies that market genetic testing directly to consumers. (We discussed these services when they launched.) Allegedly, under state law, California residents must submit a doctor's order to have a genetic test run. It will be interesting to see if the government will actually succeed in putting the genetic genie back in the bottle, given that all you need for testing is a few drops of saliva. The effort closely resembles US government attempts to block export of strong encryption product back in '90s." A Wired editor has up an opinion piece arguing that his DNA is his business and none of the government's.
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Gattaca, anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
Beware early adopters (Score:5, Interesting)
After that, I'm all for it. Not even a needle prick is needed.
Re:Beware early adopters (Score:5, Insightful)
For that reasons the medical profession train folk for years to deliver this information - to explain what it really means, for you and for your family. To discuss your options. The data should be available,should be affordable, and should be delivered by a professional, not by an email.
Screw that. Our society has viewed doctors as a combination of voodoo and god for too long. From what I've seen, the average doctor's 'bedside manner' is pathetic enough that an email can't be that much worse.
As someone who's had to diagnose my own medical problems after 8 doctors failed for a decade, I'll take the information and use it myself, thanks.
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I'll wait for the Chinese version (Score:5, Funny)
You come from monkeys
In short no... (Score:5, Funny)
Hmm (Score:5, Funny)
Need information yoda does.
Only if... (Score:5, Funny)
...it reveals my latent mutant abilities. I'm personally hoping to find out I can generate fire.
And then sell it to who? (Score:5, Interesting)
Also given that the CEO is Sergey Brins wife, I wonder whether Google will get involved at one point?
Somewhat dupey... (Score:4, Informative)
I'd love to hear about the results, though.
Add it to the Christmas list (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Add it to the Christmas list (Score:5, Insightful)
For instance, high-resolution full-body scans [wikipedia.org] (a CT scan of every inch of your body) are frequently criticized because they are so accurate and exhaustive that they will nearly always find something. Even a perfectly healthy individual will have a variety of benign masses of tissues which will show up on CT. Some experts have even estimated that a full-body scan will statistically reduce your health (or chance of survival or whatever) since it increases your risk due to unnecessary secondary tests more than it reduces your risk due to early detection.
Yet many (overly rich?) people want full-body scans because they want to make sure that any possible disease is caught... not realizing that you expose yourself to risk with each medical test.
I worry this kind of gene-sequencing will do the same thing: many people will see their results, not properly interpret the risks, and go rushing out for secondary tests (some of which have a small danger associated with them). Worse, some people may read their results and change their lifestyle without medical consultation, in order to "manage" a condition that they have not actually expressed yet. (And, again, you can do more harm than good when you try to manage a condition you don't have, at the expense of doing things that would actually make you more healthy.)
Obviously it's a personal choice if you want to gather this extra information about yourself. I just hope that the companies offering this service make the risks clear and help the customers actually understand the data and probabilities.
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Re:Add it to the Christmas list (Score:5, Insightful)
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Gene Sequencing Options (Score:5, Informative)
Very much worth it if one is interested in learning about and working to minimize one's genetic risks.
Misspelling (Score:5, Funny)
The word is "scam", not
"scan".
So what's a thousand bucks buy you? (Score:5, Insightful)
A nice call from your insurance company informing you that they are dropping your coverage due to a genetic predisposition for X disease.
NOT a Complete DNA Scan (Score:5, Informative)
Beware health insurance implications (Score:5, Interesting)
There are some cool DNA projects out there already (Score:5, Informative)
The team behind the project has already collected thousands of samples from people worldwide who have interesting lineages (Indiginous people in xyz area) and found out some REALLY cool stuff.
The $1k thing seems like a privacy nightmare though.
Re:No! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Recommended viewing (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Recommended viewing (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Recommended viewing (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, if somebody finds my Netflix data, they may find out my most secret movie preferences. If insurance companies or employers link me to my DNA and discover a genetic pre-disposition to brain cancer or a debilitating disease, I'll never get health insurance again, and the misfortune will probably extend to any offspring as well. And would anybody hire you (and again, your children) if you have a genetic pre-disposition to MS or some other debilitating condition? Prospective employers are already googling for damaging Facebook information; just wait until genes enter the mix!
Until good privacy protections and anti-discriminatory legislation are in place, we're talking about a whole different level of risk. -- Paul
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Re:No. (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)
One could much more easily go in later and interpret the sequence, than have to do it a second time to fill in the missing gaps.
Personally, I'm going to pass at least until I can have my entire DNA sequenced. I may even then wait depending upon the level of concern I have for what is done with the information.
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Re:Blatant Misuse of the English Language (Score:5, Insightful)
1. If you are below a certain level of intelligence and you think it looks cool, do it. Example: Can u read this?
2. The rules of standard English are kind of stodgy and don't really hold up well in polls. Just use whatever you think works and most people will know what you mean even if you don't write it correctly. Also make sure to embrace Appalachionics since it has a warm and homey feel that makes you seem like someone people would want to have a beer with: My warshing machine needs fixed. Or... The nukyelar family is important above else all!
3. Make sure to avoid using more than one or two sentences per paragraph and no more than four paragraphs when writing stuff unless you want someone to think you're boring. Example:
a. Good writing:
"That guy's a troll. He sucks donkey dicks
It's a good thing we're on Digg. None of those crappy Slashdotters.
Go back to Slashdot you asshat."
b. Bad writing:
"Please don't feed the trolls. If you pay more attention to them, they'll keep coming back and lower the tone. The other fallout, is that we have more noise vs. signal if you insist on engaging the trolls. This has been a truism since the beginning of Usenet. I should know, I was there..." (Goes on for ten paragraphs with endless words that are boring, like "truism". WTF is a truism and why should we know?)
4. Make sure to nip any kind of conversation in the bud that isn't beer drinker friendly. The best way to do that is to instantly refer to the poster as a troll if they say something you don't like. The second best way is to invoke Godwin's law even if it doesn't really fit. The main is to keep people from talking about stuff that sucks. Remember, if it won't play on Spike TV, The SciFi Channel, or G4, then it shouldn't be on line either.
5. Always ALWAYS A-L-W-A-Y-S use pictures of videos instead of writing. It's so much cleaner and easier to understand than all that messy and archaic mucking about with text. All you need is a photo or video the presents what you want it to say, then a subject like "Amazing thing!!!!" and you're all set. You'll be communicating in the 21st century in ways that would have had Gutenberg himself breaking out into a cold sweat over.
Welcome to the intarweb tubes. Don't forget to tip heavily!
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