A genetic “Minority Report”: How corporate DNA testing could put us at risk

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...