Genetic Testing Should Adhere to Medical, Not Business, Ethics: FDA's Regulation of 23andMe Is a Welcome Move for Consumers
By Karuna Jaggar,
Huffington Post
| 12. 01. 2013
This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a
warning letter to the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe, demanding that it immediately stop marketing and selling its DNA testing service until it receives approval from the agency tasked with regulating medical tests and devices. In what has widely been called a "scathing" letter, the FDA said that 23andMe had failed to show that "the firm has analytically or clinically validated the [23andMe Saliva Collection Kit and Personal Genome Service] for its intended uses" and expresses concern "about the public health consequences of inaccurate results from the P.G.S. device."
It sounds temptingly light-hearted to find out about the percentage of genes you share with a Neanderthal, your earwax type, or why you love Brussels sprouts while others can't stand them. But 23andMe's test doesn't stop there. It claims to provide health reports on some 254 diseases and conditions. Some of the information the company provides, based on the saliva you send them, includes how your body may metabolizes certain pharmaceutical drugs, an individual's carrier status, and risk of disease such...
Related Articles
By Ed Cara, Gizmodo | 06.22.2025
In late May, several scientific organizations, including the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT), banded together to call for a 10-year moratorium on using CRISPR and related technologies to pursue human heritable germline editing. The declaration also outlined...
By Julia Métraux, Mother Jones | 05.28.2025
By Darren Incorvaia, Fierce Biotech | 06.05.2025
By Matthew Purdy, The New York Times | 05.29.2025
Image “Elon Musk” by Debbie Rowe, Royal Society on
Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by S.A. 3.0
As Elon Musk prepared to make a less than triumphant exit from Washington, he told the Fox News host Jesse Watters earlier this...