<p>My sister sent me a link to a website (23andme.com) that offers phenotype DNA testing, for a not outrageous cost. She says she is “just curious” about what she might find out. She asked what I thought about it.</p>
<p>My brief google search did not reveal any quick, compelling reason to tell her not to do it.</p>
<p>Has anyone done this/ Or researched it and can help me out with the pros and cons?</p>
<p>I’ve had my DNA tested at 23andme, and so have my husband and kids. I did it more out of curiosity, I guess. And I did learn some useful information about our health risks, inherited conditions and drug response. There are a couple of conditions for which I have an elevated risk so knowing about them allows me to take steps to prevent them. But I also enjoyed learning about our ancestry composition and it has given me a list of 1000 DNA relatives (granted, they’re all 3rd cousins or greater) with whom I can explore our common links.</p>
<p>However, I’m a little concerned about the privacy issue. I read an article the other day that scared me a bit. While I have every confidence in 23andme.com keeping my information private, I had never thought about the possibility of hacking. If I had read this article first, I might not have been so quick to sign up.</p>
<p>[MercatorNet:</a> Safeguards needed for genetic privacy](<a href=“http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/safeguards_needed_for_genetic_privacy]MercatorNet:”>http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/safeguards_needed_for_genetic_privacy)</p>
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<p>My wife and I have done the 23andme test. This service is primarily oriented toward identifying genetic predisposition for illness or disease. It also has a genetic genealogy component and gives you a general idea of the countries of origin in your ancestry. I connected with a 4th cousin who I had not known about. The DNA relatives function of 23andme is not as active as other services which are more specifically oriented towards genetic genealogy. You have the option to not make your genetic markers searchable by potential relatives.</p>
<p>I did not find out anything terribly surprising from the test results. My wife has a higher than average risk of age related macular degeneration, and she will probably bring that up with her ophthalmologist.</p>
<p>So 23 and me keeps your genetic information? And their computers could be hacked? Do they send the information to you by email or regular mail? I think this is interesting also. The cost is reasonable, $99, and if I had a risk for something like macular degeneration I would want to know.</p>
<p>Interesting. I had never heard of this.</p>
<p>I just ordered the tests.
My sisters kids are homo & heterozygous for a defect in the mthfr gene and as I share some concerns, I wanted to get as much info as I can about it.
It originally was much more expensive, but I think I read one of the Google founders were backing with money to lower cost.</p>
<p>I was thinking about getting this. I was just at a party where a lady told me that her and her husband had that test done, and the information they got on him allowed him to recognize the symptoms of a serious disease quicker, and start getting treatment for it. I think it might have been MS, but I’m not certain.</p>
<p>One thing that some families may be concerned about is if the testing reveals something that could damage family relationships. For example, if two brothers or a father and son do not have the same Y chromosome, that might cause family discord (the presence or absence of other genes in various family members can reveal similar secrets, though perhaps not as obviously).</p>
<p>One of my kids did it and thought it was very interesting. </p>
<p>Should you happen to have one Jewish parent and one who is not, as my kid does, you may see some fascinating results. 23andme can distinguish Ashkenazi ancestry from other types of European ancestry almost perfectly.</p>
<p>I am avoiding 23andme because if I did it, my sister would want to. But our mother was unhappily married and had no morals whatsoever, as far as I have ever been able to tell. If my sister and I are not full siblings – which is a realistic possibility – I don’t want that detected because she would be upset about it.</p>
<p>It’s good to know if you have Ashkenazi ancestry, because there are numerous health conditions that are common in that group. My husband and three kids all have Factor XI Deficiency, a rare bleeding disorder among the general population, but fairly common among Ashkenazi descendants. Each of my family members had a 50/50 chance of having it. Just our luck - they ALL have it. Before surgeries, they are given the MOST expensive medicine in the hospital pharmacy - Recombinant Factor VIIa. It costs at least $10,000 per dose (it was even more a few years ago).</p>
<p>Of course, that’s also the downside to testing. My husband was not tested for the condition until he was in his 50s, after our son bled excessively after a tonsillectomy). He has had major accidents and traumas in his life (such as when he fell off a roof in Alaska and landed on the ice, breaking his collar bone, collapsing a lung, and rupturing his spleen) and NEVER had problems with bleeding. But since the doctors know he has the bleeding disorder, they insist on giving him the medicine before any surgery, even when he tells them he doesn’t want it.</p>
<p>I really want to get this done and have looked at it from time to time. However, reading their FB site right now it looks like something is going on. A BUNCH of orders are backed up and I can’t quite make sense of it but it seems to have happened in the last few weeks. </p>
<p>ML, that’s actually really good to know. I know from my family tree that I am Ashkenazi. My dad is a Tay Sachs carrier so I know that’s a real possibility but I didn’t know there were other conditions strongly associated with that particular group. Very interesting. </p>
<p>FWIW- the last two years they’ve had cyber Monday deals of $50/test. If more than one family member plans on getting it, you get 20% off the subsequent kits if you order them together.</p>
<p>I have some 2nd cousins I would rather not know. Heck, I would rather not know some of my own siblings! So, yeah, I would not do this testing. I am not interested in adding to my family circle.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that I’d learn anything useful. If I were younger, maybe. But I don’t see a reason to do it.</p>
<p>When I had genetic testing for breast cancer, it would have been cheaper if I was an a
Ashkenazi Jew. however I am not. Ashkenai jews have an increased incidence of breast cancer.
This test piques my curiosity
Various studies have examined the ethnic distribution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations associated with breast and ovarian cancer. Three mutations in these genes (185delAG and 5382insC in BRCA1 and 6174delT in BRCA2) occur at an increased incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, estimated at 2.5% (or 1 in 40), compared to less than 1% in the general population</p>
<p>You can do the 23andme tests strictly for the medical / health results and opt out of the DNA relative finder, so you don’t have to worry about unknown relatives discovering you.</p>
<p>I didn’t do 23andme because I have no desire to know about genetic risk factors that I may or may not be able to control (especially if they may or may not be accurate). Knowing myself, the anxiety this would generate isn’t worth the potential gain of the information. </p>
<p>Instead, I did a test through Family Tree DNA, which just gives you genealogical information (which I suspect also means privacy concerns are something less of a factor). I’m not overwhelmingly impressed by what I’ve learned so far, but I’m glad I did it. I am somewhat frustrated that I haven’t been able to find a common ancestral link even with those the site identifies as probable third cousins, and I have a good enough family tree that I would have expected to be able to do more with it.</p>
<p>I have found some of the information interesting, especially as an Ashkenazi Jew. From what I understand, most of the people on the site get maybe 100 matches (from close relative to very distant cousin) if they are lucky. I have 1600, which is typical for people with Ashkenazi ancestry (although one of the surprises is that I’m apparently not 100% Ashkenazi - 15% came out as Spanish, Basque, and Tuscan). </p>
<p>Ashkenazi Jews are actually so relatively endogomous that the site actually factors interrelatedness into their calculations - two Jews might be told they are likely fourth cousins, while two Scandinavians sharing the same amount of genetic material might be told they are third cousins, because there is an assumption that Jews share some DNA from multiple ancestral lines that add up to give the impression of a closer relationship than actually exists.</p>
<p>Leveling the playing field for everyone - I always wondered why shouldn’t this co jump through all the regulatory hoops the medical diagnostics companies go through? </p>
<p>[FDA</a> warns Google-backed 23andMe to halt sales of genetic tests - Yahoo Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fda-warns-google-backed-23andme-161317200.html]FDA”>FDA warns Google-backed 23andMe to halt sales of genetic tests)</p>
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<p>A concern I have about these tests is that the results may someday be used against you. There is no current legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment, etc. against people who have strong genetic predispositions to certain illnesses. I would not want to potentially hand anyone a scourge with which to beat me. I would really not want what is at bottom a commercial organization to obtain and store information that might not be in my best interest.</p>
<p>My three kids did the 23 and me, when it went on sale a year or so ago. Very interesting, as they have an Ashkenazi mother and a Sephardic father. We found some relatives, and that’s always fun. But as for reliable, it showed that my daughter has a low probability of Rheumatoid Arthritis, and she has a very aggressive form, diagnosed when she was about 20. So you have to be careful when interpreting the results. It’s interesting at the very least.</p>
<p>I’m tempted to try it, but I just came across this:</p>
<p><a href=“F.D.A. Orders Genetic Testing Firm to Stop Selling DNA Analysis Service - The New York Times”>F.D.A. Orders Genetic Testing Firm to Stop Selling DNA Analysis Service - The New York Times;
<p>"In a crackdown on genetic testing that is offered directly to consumers, the Food and Drug Administration has demanded that 23andMe immediately cease selling and marketing its DNA testing service until it receives clearance from the agency. "</p>