Genetic testing

There was some news a few months ago when the FDA put the kibosh on DNA testing lab 23andMe. Kira Peikoff had three labs do her DNA and found some discrepancies -- from the New York Times. (As a heads up - the NY Times is limiting the number of articles you can view before subscribing. CCleaner can eliminate this restriction - an excellent and free utility, use it on all of my machines.
Install CCleaner and hit the reload button (CTRL+R) if you get the nasty popup.)

I Had My DNA Picture Taken, With Varying Results
I like to plan ahead; that much I knew about myself before I plunged into exploring my genetic code. I�m a healthy 28-year-old woman, but some nasty diseases run in my family: coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer�s and breast cancer.

The upshot:

23andMe said my most elevated risks � about double the average for women of European ethnicity � were for psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, with my lifetime odds of getting the diseases at 20.2 percent and 8.2 percent. But according to Genetic Testing Laboratories, my lowest risks were for � you guessed it � psoriasis (2 percent) and rheumatoid arthritis (2.6 percent).

For coronary heart disease, 23andMe and G.T.L. agreed that I had a close-to-average risk, at 26 to 29 percent, but Pathway listed my odds as �above average.�

In the case of Type 2 diabetes, inconsistencies on a semantic level masked similarities in the numbers. G.T.L. said my risk was �medium� at 10.3 percent, but 23andMe said my risk was �decreased� at 15.7 percent. In fact, both companies had calculated my odds to be roughly three-quarters of the average, but they used slightly different averages � and very different words � to interpret the numbers. In isolation, the first would have left me worried; the second, relieved.

Oops -- for once, I side with the FDA. I was thinking about spending some $$ at 23andMe but I think that I will wait until the science gets better...