Genes and Health

Genes and Health section

Is genetic testing good for health? Will gene therapy one day correct our faulty genes and eliminate disease? Some genetic tests can be useful, but genes are poor predictors of common diseases in most people. Read about the limitations of a genetic approach to our health problems.

Eric Lander (who played a key role in the Human Genome Project) has written an article in Nature which recognises that "there are likely to be fundamental limits on precise [genetic risk] prediction due to the complex architecture of common traits, including common variants of tiny effect, rare variants that cannot be fully enumerated and complex epistatic interactions, as well as many non-genetic factors". Lander also recognises that some of the missing heritability of common diseases and traits "may simply be an illusion": as GeneWatch has argued.

Read GeneWatch's history of the claims that everyone should have their genome sequenced to allow common diseases to be predicted and prevented. An article in Newsweek explains the latest scientific papers showing that genes are poor predictors of such diseases.

The Huffington Post has reported a discussion initiated by the Bioscience Resource Project asking whether genes for disease are a mirage.

Widely reported claims in a 2010 that genes are highly predictive of longevity were implausible because they were based on too small a sample of people and neglected the overwhelming importance of environment in lifespan. Newsweek has now reported some technical problems with the study.

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