Form and Function

You'll probably get other journal entries on this, but Time magazine announced a retail DNA test as its "Invention of the Year". The test, developed by a company called 23 and Me, is a personal DNA analysis that can give its purchasers information on the link between their genes and 90 traits and diseases. While affordable, personalized, genetic information may well be the wave of the future (this home saliva test costs $399), the 23 and Me test has its share of controversy, the most valid of which in my opinion is the quality of the information gained. Only 23 of the 90 traits or diseases tested for have enough science behind them to allow the company to develop "quantitative estimates and definitive explanations" of the results to their customers. Quite a few of these 23 conditions are medically significant (e.g. Parkinson's, Type II Diabetes) but the possibility of finding out whether I am likely to produce an excess of ear wax is not going to have me running for the checkbook. The remaining 68 genetic components tested for do not have enough scientific evidence behind them to confidently link the genetics to the potential resulting diseases or traits.

My assessment is that this type of test is the first step towards broadly used, highly personalized health care based on individual genetics but that we have a long way to go to bring the scientific basis for this kind of testing up to par.