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Thursday, December 13, 2007

23andMe - More Hype from Genetic Testing Services

 
The Genetic Genealogist promotes another for-profit testing service called 23andMe [The Latest on 23andMe].

Go to their website [23andMe] where you'll find this teaser ...
Connect to the Famous and the Infamous
Are you more closely related to European royalty or American outlawry? Use 23andMe's Ancestry tools to find out whether your maternal lineage links you more closely to Marie Antoinette or Jesse James. Your 23andMe account also connects you genetically to many other celebrities and historical figures, from Bono to Ben Franklin. Read more about 23andMe's celebrity features.
I still find it curious that there are "science bloggers" who promote these for-profit companies without ever mentioning the scam that they're perpetrating by misleading the general public about what the tests can achieve. The kit from 23andMe costs $999.00 (US).

Some of the bloggers are employed by companies in this field (e.g. Eye on DNA). I don't know about The Genetic Genealogist




2 comments :

TheGeneticGenealogist said...

Dr. Moran,

I shouldn’t rise to the bait, but…

The post you refer to is a round-up of the latest discussion about 23andMe around the blogosphere, and it contains links to sites that are both pro- and anti-23andMe (or genetic testing in general). These sites promote healthy discussion of the many ethical questions associated with genetic testing.

I often do these type of round-up posts that share links with my readers so that they can learn more about these topics and make their own informed decisions.

Larry Moran said...

So, what's your own personal opinion of the claims on the websites? Given our previous exchange I would have thought you could comment on the hype.

You have been actively promoting genetic testing for over a year. Since you have been posing as an expert, it makes sense that you offer an informed review of a new company when it opens for business. You could easily have looked at the website and let us know whether the company was exaggerating or not.

It seems like a bit of a cop-out to just post links to other bloggers.

Are you connected in any way with any of these companies?