FDA Approved Breast Cancer DNA Test by 23andMe May do More Harm than Good
By Joyce Bichler,
Breast Cancer Action
| 03. 07. 2018
Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time approved an at-home genetic testing kit without a doctor’s prescription to predict the risk of breast cancer. While there’s no doubt the move will be celebrated by some, the truth is that there is cause for serious concern. This decision by the FDA threatens to do more harm than good for women at risk of and living with breast cancer.
Most immediately, the 23andMe test approved for over-the-counter use looks at just three of the more than 1000 known BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. While these three specific mutations are the most common BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations for people of Ashkenazi ancestry, they are not the most common BRCA mutations in the broader population, raising serious health equity concerns. This means that if you’re someone who receives a negative result from the 23andMe test, there is still the possibility that you may carry other harmful BRCA mutations that increase the risk of breast cancer.
At Breast Cancer Action, we’ve long argued that genetic testing should always be accompanied by independent...
Related Articles
By Yelena Biberman and Jonathan D. Moreno, Bioethics Forum | 04.16.2024
A quiet biological revolution in warfare is underway. The genome is emerging as a new domain of conflict. The level of destruction that only nuclear weapons could previously achieve is fast becoming as accessible as a cyberattack.
Now for the...
By Jorge Barrera and Rachel Houlihan, CBC | 04.09.2024
A Canadian DNA laboratory knowingly delivered prenatal paternity test results that routinely identified the wrong biological fathers — ruling out the real dads — and left a trail of shattered lives around the globe, a CBC News investigation has found...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...
By Carey Gillan, UnSpun | 03.18.2024
A Mexican standoff with the United States turned into a Mexican smack-down this month with the release of Mexico’s formal rebuttal to US efforts to overturn limits Mexico has ordered on the use of genetically modified (GM) corn and the...