23andMe Only Heightens the Need for Genetic Counselling
By Dr Joyce Harper,
BioNews
| 02. 02. 2015
Untitled Document
Partially out of curiosity and partially as an assignment for Radio 4's PM show, I was one of the first to 'get to know me', as their company slogan goes, and have my
genome analysed by
23andMe.
23andMe offer direct-to-consumer DNA analysis. Customers order a collection kit over the internet - essentially a tube you spit into and return to the company. About six weeks later the results arrive by email. At no point is there any involvement from a physician or genetic counsellor to explain what is being tested for or the consequences of the results.
Read more...
Related Articles
Media coverage of recent developments in embryo gene editing might seem to suggest that gene-edited babies are close to becoming a reality. As tech billionaires eager to profit off of techno-eugenics invest in “designer baby” technologies, attempts to normalize heritable genome editing – which remains unsafe and raises significant ethical and societal concerns – are especially dangerous. It’s worth taking a closer look at these developments and what they mean, in a way that pushes back on narratives normalizing the...
By Roxanne Khamsi, The Atlantic | 07.07.2026
When Ludivine Verboogen and Romain Alderweireldt’s third child was born in Belgium in late 2015, they marveled at his long fingers. Perhaps one day he will be a famous pianist, they thought. But soon Ludivine grew worried that her son...
By Julia Métraux, Mother Jones [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.07.2026
During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...
By Carl Zimmer and Marco Hernandez , The New York Times | 07.01.2026
Scientists have long dreamed of discovering the alchemy by which chemicals can be turned into life. On Wednesday, a team at the University of Minnesota announced that it had taken a major step toward that vision.
Blending together dozens of...
