Scientists Hoping to Ease Interpretation of the DNA ‘Book of Life’

On paper, Dr. Robert C. Green should be worried. An analysis of his DNA flagged a rare mutation in a gene linked to a condition that causes facial deformities at birth. But Green only has to look in the mirror to know that he does not have the disorder, Treacher Collins syndrome.

“Most likely this is not a meaningful mutation,” the Brigham and Women’s Hospital geneticist said, pulling up alarming photos on his computer screen of people with the condition. “I know this, but imagine if you’re a pregnant woman and someone reported that mutation out to you about your baby. Can you imagine?”

Green’s experience shines a light on an important truth about DNA: The facts about your genes are not necessarily facts about you. That truth has gotten lost in the hype around genome-sequencing technology.

The public tends to see DNA as holding almost-mystical power to inform us about what treatments to take or what diseases to guard against, and this belief, combined with falling prices for gene sequencing, has driven a surge in people having...