Consumer genetics

A number of companies now offer affordable genetic tests for consumers.  DNA Direct offers disease-related gene tests in the $200-$500 range.  And IBM’s popular Genographic Project kit allows individuals to trace their genealogical history for $99.

Now (according to a recent story) a Google-backed company (23andMe) has joined forces with Illumina - a maker of "gene chips" - to identify 550,000 genetic differences between individuals (for around $300-$600).

The function of all these genetic differences are not yet known, of course.  But the more people who get measured, the larger the sample size, and the more statistically relevant the results will be.

So what if you send a sample of your blood to 23andMe?  What happens next?  This is my guess.  I'm imagining they'll measure your unique set of 500,000 or 1 million genetic differences, and record them in a database.  Then they will send surveys to everyone in their network (who submitted a sample), to ask about their family history of disease, etc.  Once a million or more people join their network, the correlation between the responses to the survey ("my father had colon cancer") and the specific genetic differences for those response (e.g. "Gene X") will be much easier to accurately judge.

I'm not cynical about this.  I don't think 23andMe will try to sell your personal genetic information.  They are simply trying to learn about diseases correlated with genes (which they plan to share, and thus facilitate treatments).  They will need a lot of data to make the association (since there are so many possible genetic differences).  It's an exciting prospect, but we must ensure that our laws keep up with the science, and absolutely forbid any sort of genetic discrimination on a personal basis.  They data should be kept in an aggregate form.