2019 John A. Catanzaro
Ancestry Data
23andMe genetic data testing has revolutionized and become a cliche and a fashionable ancestry tool in discovering family origin and family members. Humorously, the data also picked up on personal and buried family secrets that I’m sure were never intended to be revealed.
Incomplete Risk Data
While 23andMe is great for forecasting ancestry it has also packaged this personal genetic data to incompletely assemble risk associated SNP’s (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) that demonstrate correlation with certain diseases, namely, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and many more. There are shortfalls associated with such incomplete genetic data reporting, thereby making it a less than reliable and confident science.
Partial Data Not Sequenced
The paradox is that the data analyzed by direct to consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies is incomplete low confidence data and not fully sequenced data. In other words, it doesn’t completely evaluate all associated genetic risk indicators with a high degree of confidence. This criteria is not adequate to identify risk and definitely not diagnostic by any means.
