A genetic test for MeCP-2 and Rett’s Syndrome?
June 1, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Genetics, Health, Science
In a special feature on DNA, Forbes magazine mentions a test for MeCP-2 as one of twelve genetics tests that could change your life; mutations in the MeCP-2 gene cause Rett’s Syndrome. And, it seems, such tests could be quite readily available before we know it:
“There has been a demystification of genetic testing,” says Washington University’s Timothy Pluard. “To some degree genetic testing is not very different from having your cholesterol levels” measured.
But will we be ready to find out what we might learn from genetic testing? As the Forbes article notes:
Not too many years from now, researchers predict that gene findings will be used to create genetic report cards that could help predict one’s risks for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, schizophrenia and more. Biotech companies are hopeful that the gene screens will form a new multibillion-dollar business, promising a new kind of preemptive care. But skeptics wonder whether premature genetic testing could just lead to a mountain of confusing, scary or uninterpretable genetic information.
On the genetics of Rett Syndrome, see this Genetics Home Reference page from the US National Library of Medicine. On prenatal genetic testing and disabled children, see here.
Thanks to Eye on DNA for letting me know about the Forbes special feature on DNA.
Jeff Stimpson
Jill Cornfield
“Biotech companies are hopeful that the gene screens will form a new multibillion-dollar business, promising a new kind of preemptive care.”
Oh yeah. That sounds frightening.
…whoops pressed the submit button too soon… wanted to say that any multibillion dollar anything in the health arena may not always have my best interests at heart. Call me a skeptic.
I’ll be a skeptic too—the articles are written with an eye to the business end of things, if I may say so.