Margaret McCartney: Direct to consumer genetic testing—is all knowledge power?
BMJ 2015; 350 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h439 (Published 26 January 2015) Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h439
- Margaret McCartney, general practitioner, Glasgow
- margaret@margaretmccartney.com
“Knowledge is power,” says the personal genomics company 23andMe.1 For £125 the company offers genetic testing to the UK public, as well as a report on “over 100 health conditions and traits.”
Its website predicts that you will be “excited about providing your sample” of saliva. The company’s founder has stated that “everyone has the right to access and understand their genetic information . . . imagine if someone told you that you couldn’t look in a mirror.”2
Healthcare data are measured in mountains, however, and can lead to inaccurate3 or unsafe4 conclusions. The information offered by this direct to consumer testing is advertised as a way to “better manage your health and wellness.” In reality it’s a massive data dump of genetic variants for traits, minimal risk factors, and …