20 Sep What do you think about the prospects

link: http://www.popsci.com/i-tested-my-genes

Think about the pros and cons of getting tested.  They give a couple of examples in the article about the good and bad of knowing – is it always a good thing? Do we understand enough about how genes affect one another? Is knowing too much a good thing? Remember how the environment is also a factor. Are the tests always right, or have a degree of certainty… for example  if a woman test positive for BCRA2 mutation, should she get a preventative mastectomy? (is it certain she will get cancer?).  At the end of the article it talks about knowing the baby has a 70% chance of being bipolar – do you want that for your baby, and do you have the right to decide? How important is it to understand exactly what the tests are or are not telling you?

Sum up the article and addressing the questions above.  What do you think about the prospects of genetic testing now that we can sequence individual genomes?

the article addresses the newer realm of genetic testing – you can no get tested for specific mutations that you may carry and may pass on.  They can now sequence a baby’s genome in just a few days!

But as stated in the article, more data does not always make things more clear: “But the future of genetic testing is getting much more complicated, in part because now researchers can quickly decode a persons entire genome, instead of being restricted to just a handful of conspicuous alleles. With so much more data, medical professionals can start to assess a patients risk for specific diseases based on her genes. Risk assessment is often more complex because its often tied to complex traits, Mittelman says.”