Can You Pass the (Deoxyribonucleic) Acid Test?

For just $99, genetic test company 23andme offered to test your DNA for everything from heart disease risk to your chance of going bald. Kira Peikoff wondered what DNA testing from 23andme and two other companies would tell her—and the results were surprising. We’ll also talk to geneticist Dr. David Ng. His story in McSweeny’s, “Congratulations, Your Ineffectual Genetic Test Results Have Arrived” pokes fun at the “direct-to-consumer” genetic testing industry. Then Dr. Stuart Newman fills us in on epigenetics, evolutionary developmental biology, and why the Lamarck versus Darwin debate may be old news. Finally, advocate Pete Shanks on the “promise” of GMO humans and the threat of techno-eugenics.

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Kira Peikoff is an author and Masters student in bioethics at Columbia University. Her New York Times article in December exposed the fallacies of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (see more resources on genetic test companies below). Check out her debut novel Living Proof (and look for her upcoming 2nd novel in the fall) on her website.

David Ng is...