Not according to this article in Discover Magazine.
Alan E. Guttmacher, now acting director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, agrees with Khoury. “If you read the fine print carefully, these Web sites don’t usually make false claims, but I think a lot of people will have false hopes. The information is incomplete at best and, in some cases, very likely wrong,” Guttmacher says. “The results look scientific,” he adds, but don’t be fooled.
Bottom line: If there is no indication, don’t waste money.
(Image source: Wikipedia)
And of course, there are certain conditions in which DNA testing may be worth it, especially when there are multiple family members in multiple generations afflicted by a certain disorder (e.g. BRCA1 & BRCA2 gene testing in families having multiple occurrences of breast & ovarian cancer).
When genetic testing is being contemplated, the index case (i.e. the person suffering from the disorder) should be tested first to see if he is carrying a defective gene. If the index case is positive then other family members should be tested after undergoing genetic counseling.
Tags: Cancer, DNA test, Hereditary, Home DNA kits
