What are the interesting facts that became clear when three "DNA tests" were received at the same time?

ByArs Electronica Center

Be sure to exclude some viruses in the cells of living creatures on EarthDNAThere is a "design drawing" that keeps our bodies in existence. As the analysis of DNA has progressed, causality with various diseases (Yamai) has been recognized, so this time we analyze DNA in advance to grasp the tendency of our disease and prepare for future risk There are many cases where "DNA inspection" is carried out. In the meantime, when a woman carried out a DNA test to grasp the risk of disease coming from her family, she came across an amazing situation.

I Had My DNA Picture Taken, With Varying Results - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/science/i-had-my-dna-picture-taken-with-varying-results.html


Kira Peikoff who lives in New York responded to the DNA test. A 28-year-old woman does not feel insecure about health at present, but since the family had troubles with coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and breast cancer, we received a DNA test We investigated the future disease risk. Kira, who was worried about the reliability of the DNA test that it is still evolving, decided to carry out the inspection at the same time at three inspection institutions, so as to decide to carry out the "inspection inspection", but this process is a series of happening , The result seems to have been amazing.

◆ Decide where to request inspection
Three companies listed as candidates for inspection first, the first approach I got was a venture company founded in 2006 after being invested by Google "23 and MeIt was a company. The company provides a service that carries out a DNA inspection with an examination fee of just $ 99 (about 10,000 yen), and the user collects his saliva in the inspection kit sent from 23 and Me and sends it back , It was a system that can obtain inspection results of more than 240 items.

ByIan Ruotsala

Kira who asked for the examination, 23andMe did not have permission from the Health Department in New York State, so I caught on the provision that I can not receive the specimen for examination. Kira who tried to stumble from the first step of the project succeeded in submitting the specimen with the cooperation of relatives living in New Jersey. We received the test results after a while, but 23andMe was judged not to meet the standards prescribed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) immediately after that, and the inspection kitA shipping stop order comes downIt seems that it has become to be said.

In addition, Kira was forced to do further research as it turned out that the remaining two companies that had been listed as candidates had already stopped the service. Ultimately, it will judge 25 types of disease risk at a cost of $ 285 (about 30,000 yen) "Genetic Testing Laboratory(GTL) ", which judges 24 types of disease risk at 399 dollars (about 42,000 yen)"Pathway GenomicsWe decided to ask the company to verify the results of each of the three companies.

◆ When I check the returned test results ......
Two months later, when I checked the report of each company I went through, Kira saw the surprising results. Two of the reports that were considered to be the most risky in the 23andMe report were "psoriasis" and "rheumatoid arthritis", but it was mentioned as the lowest risk among reports from the GTL It is said that it was "psoriasis" and "rheumatoid arthritis".

Regarding coronary heart disease, 23andMe and GTL were both "average level", whereas Pathway Genomics cited "Above average" answer. Also, it is interesting as a result of type 2 diabetes mellitus that GTL judged to be "moderate" risk for the numerical value of 10.3%, whereas 23 and Me was said to be "low risk" despite the high value of 15.7% I was making judgments. It seems that the company was surprised by the fact that standards of disease risks are not uniformly divided among enterprises, as well as the fact that one worried about the result and the other remarked expressing a cheap expression.

ByVa Sfak

Normally, when conducting a DNA test, a segment called SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) is read out from the bases which are genetic information contained in DNA and examined. However, it seems that the problem is that the relationship between this segment and illness varies from person to person. In order to examine all 3 billion bases contained in human DNA, it costs $ 3,000 (about 310,000 yen) as it becomes necessary, but this examination verified only 1 million It was only SNP less than.

ByJohn Goode

Dr. Robert Klitzman, a biological logicologist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, said this situation "It is like reading the first letter of each page when reading a book It is that we are trying to produce results without looking at 99.9% of the total DNA information, and the information we get is limited in nature. " It is also one of the reasons that the causal relationship between DNA and many diseases has not been elucidated. It is said that DNA's human genome information accounts for only 5 to 20% of the total causes of illness. It is not negligible that there are things due to external causes alongside genetic factors as the cause of the disease.

To this result, 23andMe has refused comment. General Genetics Corporation, headquartered in GTL, says, "Because the results of genetic testing are very complex and there are factors affecting in a long-term perspective such as being affected by external causes, You should ask for an interpretation. " Pathway Genomics Inc. "We are an authorized organization consistent with the American Pathologist Association and the Department of Health and Human Services Department of Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act, so our results of inspections are more reliable than institutions not certified It is thought that it has sex. "

As experts say, "As long as the science in forecasting technology is not sufficiently reliable, users should not take into consideration the results," the findings of the survey are " Take grasp at the level and do not take it too seriously, "he advises. And, to the extreme point, "If you think that you want to use money effectively for health, and if you have tens of thousands of dollars at hand, let's buy a scale, measure every day and take appropriate action It is better to end. "

ByFBCmyphotos