A genetic “Minority Report”: How corporate DNA testing could put us at risk
By Benjamin Winterhalter,
Salon
| 01. 26. 2014
On Nov. 22, 2013, the FDA sent a now-infamous letter to the genetic
research startup 23andMe, ordering the company to stop marketing some of
its personal DNA testing kits. In its letter, the agency told 23andMe
that it was concerned about the possibility of erroneous test results,
about false positives and false negatives. The FDA warned that false
positives – for example, being told that one has a high risk of breast
cancer when really one doesn’t – might lead customers to seek expensive
testing or medical treatment that they don’t really need. False
negatives – which are just the opposite – might lead customers to ignore
serious health problems or deviate from a prescribed treatment regime.
The company had been out of contact with the FDA since May of 2013, and
had not filed the required information to allay the bureau’s concerns.
When
word about the letter got out, the ever-ready machine of Internet
journalism whirred quickly to life. Defenders of the genetic research
firm argued that the information, if used properly and with a
physician’s supervision, is not only...
Related Articles
A Review of Exposed by Becky McClain
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
— John Lewis
Becky McClain became famous when she successfully sued Pfizer, one of the very largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies. She...
By Katherine Long, Ben Foldy, and Lingling Wei, The Wall Street Journal | 12.13.2025
Inside a closed Los Angeles courtroom, something wasn’t right.
Clerks working for family court Judge Amy Pellman were reviewing routine surrogacy petitions when they spotted an unusual pattern: the same name, again and again.
A Chinese billionaire was seeking parental...
By Sarah Kliff, The New York Times | 12.10.2025
Micah Nerio had known since his early 30s that he wanted to be a father, even if he did not have a partner. He spent a decade saving up to pursue surrogacy, an expensive process where he would create embryos...
By Carter Sherman, The Guardian | 12.08.2025
A huge defense policy bill, revealed by US lawmakers on Sunday, does not include a provision that would have provided broad healthcare coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for active-duty members of the military, despite Donald Trump’s pledge...
