Mail-Order Genetic Screening
Recent years have seen a flood of studies linking genetic variations to particular diseases, and companies are trying to parlay those discoveries into direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Navigenics mails its subscribers containers for saliva samples. When it gets the samples back, it uses microarrays–chips studded with fragments of DNA–to screen the subscribers’ DNA for genetic variations linked to 18 diseases, including Alzheimer’s and colon cancer. Such genetic screening has received little clinical evaluation, however, so whether it helps prevent disease is unclear.
Product: Health Compass
Cost: $2,500 for the initial test; $250 a year for continued consultation
Source: www.navigenics.com
Companies: Navigenics
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora
The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.
Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.
Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.
This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language
A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.