23andMe

This is a test you do for the fun of it. Like its competitors Navigenics and deCode Genetics, 23andMe gives consumers the view of their personal genome from 30,000 feet. 23andMe looks at “single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s-pronounced “snips”). These are sites along the genome where you and I are most likely to differ ever so slightly. However this change might give you “runny” earwax compared to my “gummy” earwax. (I’m not making this up)

When SNP’s were first identified, they promised to change the world. That was when we thought there would only be a few hundred SNP’s that would lead us to the promised land of personalized medicine. Last time I checked, though, there were over 10 million SNP’s that had been patented. That has destroyed their value, because there are good SNP’s and bad SNP’s. Unless you look at all 10 million of them, you won’t know if there might be a good SNP that can compensate for a bad one. Here, too much information became a bad thing.

23andMe looks at 600,000 of the SNP’s, but cautions you not to act on any of the information. Why? Well, with the exception of the well characterized mostly single-gene conditions like Cystic Fibrosis and Huntington’s disease, mutations do not guarantee the disease will ever develop. At best, they increase your chance of getting the disease. But think about this. If the entire population has a 1 in a thousand chance of being afflicted with a given condition, and the presence of a mutation increases your chance by 50% (an unusually high number), then your odds increase from 0.1% to 0.15%. That’s not worth worrying about.

But here’s the fun part. If you’ve always wanted to blame your parents for your “runny” earwax, 23andMe provides the ammo you need. For a great review of this test from an enthusiastic non-scientist, go here.

Visit 23andMe website