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.
Credit: Joshua Scott
Product: Health Compass
This story is only available to subscribers.
Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.
