Scientists Push Back Against Booming Genetic Pseudoscience Market

The premise behind Yes or No Genomics is simple: Genetic disease is typically caused by a variation in at least one of the many thousands of genes in the human genome, so knowing whether your DNA code contains variants could suggest whether your health is at risk. And for just $199, the scientists at Yes or No Genomics can use special technology to determine that.

Except Yes or No Genomics isn’t a real company. It’s satire.

The mind behind this parody is Stanford geneticist Stephen Montgomery, who hopes the website he launched this week will highlight the extreme absurdityof many of the “scientific” consumer genetic tests now on the market. Fork over $199 to Yes or No Genomics, and you will find out, inevitably, that you do have genetic variants, because everyone does. And that “specialized optical instrument” used to determine this? A kaleidoscope.

Montgomery is one of a growing number of scientists pushing back against wild claims in the consumer genetics market, which is flush with tests promising to plumb the secrets of our DNA...