DNA Lifestyle Coach isn’t the only company hoping to turn our genetics into a lifestyle product. In the past decade, DNA sequencing has gotten really, really cheap, positioning genetics to become the next big consumer health craze. The sales pitch—a roadmap for life encoded in your very own DNA—can be hard to resist. But scientists are skeptical that we’ve decrypted enough about the human genome to turn strings of As, Ts, Cs and Gs into useful personalized lifestyle advice.
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“Millions of people have had genotyping done, but few people have had their whole genome sequenced,” said Eric Topol, a geneticist at Scripps in San Diego. Most consumer DNA testing companies, like 23andMe, offer genotyping, which examines small snippets of DNA for well-studied variations. Genome sequencing, on the other hand, decodes a person’s entire genetic makeup. In many cases, there just isn’t enough science concerning the genes in question to accurately predict, say, whether you should steer clear of carbs.
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DNA Lifestyle Coach joins a growing list of technology companies attempting to spin DNA testing results into a must-have product.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, but we believe that DNA will become an integrated part of everyday life,” said Helix co-founder Justin Kao. “The same way people use data to determine which movie to see or which restaurant to eat at, people will one day use their own DNA data to help guide everyday experiences.”
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: The Next Pseudoscience Health Craze Is All About Genetics
