Hi all,
I'm 37 y/o and I believe I'm in good health. I was thinking of ordering one of those DNA predisposition tests you order online, has anyone ordered one before? There are heaps of them, all range of prices, I don't mind paying for a more premium one (not sure how much a premium would cost, $500? 1000? 10,000?
I would like to know if I have any predisposition for a genetic disease, and if they have one of those ancestry as a combo it would also be good.
Help? Thanks!
they don't need to know?
In a warm, friendly, trusting and legal World, we have nothing to fear. However every year we're finding out that organisations are watching us.
Tim Ferriss recommends being as anonymous as possible for these tests, even so far as not giving an address that's identifiable as yours.
Sure people can laugh it off as crazy, but why take the chance with your generic info?
They'd love to know before they agree to insure you. If they know you are predisposed to a genetic disease they would most likely decline your application.
And once you know, if you are applying for insurance, you are obliged to answer their questions truthfully.
waste of money
why?
You have gene X that is associated with disease X. This test will tell you that you are predisposed to getting disease X.
What it won't say is you need an undefined combination of gene A, D and F before gene X activates.
It also won't tell you that even with gene X active, you need chemical Beta before you get disease X.
But technically the test is right, you are predisposed to getting disease X.
Okay so as a 3rd year genetics student I would like to provide a bit of insight.
Unless you understand how genetic predisposition works you are going to end up with a case of WebMD.
The vast majority of diseases with a genetic component are not down to a single gene but rather a spectrum of multiple genes, gene products, environmental factors such as diet, exercise, climate etc. and complex interactions inside the body.
Unless you are testing for something know in your family you often will be shown a large list of things you may be prone to, these may or may not be a factor in your life and may end up causing you undue stress or worry. Just something to consider.
In regards to insurance, if you come up as having a strong predisposition to a condition you may be required to report it on insurance forms and job applications.
e.g A large predisposition to a condition causing sudden death such as a brain aneurysm may need to be reported if applying for travel insurance or for a job requiring constant alertness.
However the caveat is without proper medical/medical genetic training it is highly unlikey you will interpret these correctly.
If you are still intersted cost depends on the company and the technology they are using. Whole genome sequencing can be done for ~1100usd however you will often need medical approval from a doctor.
Companies like 23&me are cheaper but will often only provide select information such as common disease association like susceptibility to the flu or probable eye colour.
Okay now that youve read through that in my opinion it is great as a novelty but on its own should not be used to broadly self diagnose potential health risks.
Thanks for the input.. it does make a lot of sense. I might just get the ancestry one when a bargain comes up ;P Thanks mate.
I did 23andme many years ago. This was before some of their testing was restricted by the FDA, so it showed quite a lot. They have been working with the FDA to become approved for stuff, and I am not up to date with what is covered now since I am grandfathered in by doing it early. I think there may be an option to go through the UK portal and get a different version to the US site also.
For 'fun' stuff like eye colour it just shows you. For serious things like Alzheimers risk, or carrier status for certain diseases, you have to click through a lot of consent information to try and make you understand the risks of knowing. It gives you pretty thorough results. Yes/no for carrier traits, and a % risk for some health traits, but then also there are 5/6 tabs, each with about 2 pages of information. There is an overview that starts with general dotpoints, then more specific information that cites medical studies with links. There is a tab with a page written by an MD, a timeline and a resources/counselling tab. A tab with very technical info about the SNP and gene, and more info about the medical studies that are associated with it e.g. it will have a short summary and some info like "Study participants included people from the UK and Germany" or "Studies have confirmed this association in populations with European ancestry" to help you understand how it may or may not relate to you. It is not perfect, and someone can just skip through it all without reading, but it does try to do more than just say your lifetime risk of X is 25%
I did it because I wanted to know if I carry the BRCA1 or 2 mutations, and my doctor wouldn't refer my for testing here until I was older and more likely to be at risk. I won't change my behaviour because it turns out I do not, i.e. I would still have screenings when i am old enough here etc, and I am sure there are many undiscovered genes that I may or may not have, but I wanted to know.
It has a relative finder, but doesn't show up anything closer than a probable 4th cousin for me. I think many users are in the US. If you are primarily interested in ancestry, I would try to find out which site has more users in the area where you believe you have the most relatives. If you are primarily interested in health, I'd read more about what each site covers. Consider things like do you have an option for them to destroy your sample after testing? Conversely do you have the option for them to keep it in storage and have it retested if you want in the future? Can you have access to your raw data? As others mentioned, if you want to be anonymous can you?
I did a lot of reading before I ordered it, I was pretty happy with the overall experience. Many sites used to have a big sale on DNA day (April 25) not sure if that is still the case.
Thanks!
So you think today's 23andme will be a very pared back version of yours?
Yes I believe so. The UK portal may be the same but I don't think they ship to Australia. I haven't looked into it for a while though.
If you are still interested in this, they just got approval again to start doing health in their US site again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/health/fda-genetic-tests-…
I would keep an eye out later this month, bet they will have a promotion to celebrate.
Make sure you have your life and income protection insurance locked in before you take the test.