Nicholas Wade offer a brief essay in the Nov. 16 New York Times which notes several companies, such as DeCode Genetics, 23andMe, and Navigenics that are now offering to give you an analysis of your own individual genome for $1000 or less. While knowing that you have a gene that predisposes you to a given disease might reinforce life style choices that make that disease less likely (in the case of potential heart disease, for example, converting from red meat and potatoes to complex carbohydrates) such information could also cause needless alarm, for many factors other than genotype contribute to actual outcomes in each of us.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Do you really want to know your own genome?
Nicholas Wade offer a brief essay in the Nov. 16 New York Times which notes several companies, such as DeCode Genetics, 23andMe, and Navigenics that are now offering to give you an analysis of your own individual genome for $1000 or less. While knowing that you have a gene that predisposes you to a given disease might reinforce life style choices that make that disease less likely (in the case of potential heart disease, for example, converting from red meat and potatoes to complex carbohydrates) such information could also cause needless alarm, for many factors other than genotype contribute to actual outcomes in each of us.
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