Earlier this year, the FDA was considering creating regulations for over the counter DNA testing kits. This is in response to questions about the accuracy of these types of genetic tests. A new study done by Dutch researchers found many of these types of tests to be flawed and inaccurate.
Genealogy is the study of one’s family. Many genealogists desire to take their research to the genetic level. The over the counter DNA testing kits can be appealing because of the information they can provide. Most of these genetic testing kits will give a person information about the health issues that that they are prone to, based on what was found in a small sample of their DNA. This is the type of health information that genealogists may want to use in order to put together their medical family tree.
Many tests will compare the DNA information from all of their customers, and look for people who appear to be genetically similar enough to be potential relatives to each other. When this is found, the company may contact those people, and let them know about a possible newly discovered relative. This, obviously, might be useful for a genealogist that wants to fill out more of his or her family tree.
In March of 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put together an advisory panel in order to figure out what kinds of regulations should be placed upon direct to consumer genetic testing kits. There were concerns about the tests giving inaccurate health information to consumers.
It can be frightening for a person to learn that his or her genetics imply that he or she has an incurable disease. Other people, who have certain disorders, may get results that say they are not at risk after all, and this could influence a person to stop taking medications. It is possible that in the future, doctors will be required to be involved with the use of these types of home DNA kits.
A study was done Dutch researchers at the Erasmus University medical centre in Rotterdam that reveals that the home genetic tests are “flawed and inaccurate”. They have described the results as “no better than flipping a coin”.
One problem is that the tests that come from each one of the different companies can give a different result about a person’s risk for certain diseases. This is because the companies do not always agree on how prevalent a disease or condition is in the general population.
Another flaw is that these tests don’t take into account environmental factors that can influence the development of a disease, or that can worsen a condition. The only thing the tests look at is genetic factors. Environmental factors, like lifestyle choices, can play a role in the development of a disease. The tests don’t look at a person’s age, the dietary choices of that person, or the amount of exercise that he or she is getting. None of the tests ask if the person is a smoker.
Image by Christian Guthier on Flickr