The Human Factor
Yes, it’s the Brave New World of direct-to-consumer genetic testing – and it’s coming to a barbecue near you. Already, the companies that offer the service turn an estimated $100 million in annual global sales. On some estimates, the market will climb to at least $300 million in just five years’ time.
That growth has been kicked along by some very determined marketing. My staff even spotted at least one company spruiking a testing kit as the ideal Father’s Day gift. It could certainly add some interesting complications to the family’s celebrations of Father’s Days forevermore.
The same company has now entered into a partnership with the music streaming service Spotify, so that your results will come packaged with a customised playlist of your ancestral music.
But it’s not just the allure of distant Viking ancestors and unsuspected siblings that draws us in.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you can go to the chemist and pick up a diet spit kit. Just send it off for a diet plan for your DNA. If you’re looking for romance, you can access ‘genetic match’ dating services. If you’ve run out of humans in your family to test, you can pay for a genetic profile of your pet.
To me, it all begs the questions: how is direct-to-consumer genetic testing changing the way we think about the possibilities of genetic research? And how prepared are we, as individuals and as a community, to make responsible calls?
Science For Sale
As someone with the good luck to be immersed in the medical research community in Australia, I marvel at the futures unfolding before my eyes. The scientists drawn to this field know how good you have to be, and how hard you have to work, to push the
