tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post1815767179365091592..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Be afraid of fear, not personal genomics. Anne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-29708857489833016242013-09-08T09:58:51.086-04:002013-09-08T09:58:51.086-04:00No one should be reading this as received wisdom. ...No one should be reading this as received wisdom. I wrote this post to call out the media and complain about how DTC is portrayed while also sharing my strong feelings about the educational power of DTC. But the educational power of DTC does not include assigned reading of this post. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-35518635048699904992012-10-04T15:16:36.758-04:002012-10-04T15:16:36.758-04:00Regardless of society's "readiness" ...Regardless of society's "readiness" media coverage is important, it gets the message out to a large number of people, and that's what researchers need. They need lots of people, they need large numbers, not just the biology students, but average people, laypeople like me. I'm totally ignorant of biology and genetics, but I understand the importance and necessity of the development of this field. For me it's fun, for humanity it's evolution, it's survival, it's the future. But I wouldn't know about it without media coverage. <br />A 23andMe CustomerAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13749805291564581687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-66472107601276679382012-10-04T05:40:55.111-04:002012-10-04T05:40:55.111-04:00Maybe what I'm *really* saying is that society...Maybe what I'm *really* saying is that society isn't ready for the media coverage, regardless of quality, because biology education hasn't kept up with the technology. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-20396467405623586342012-10-04T03:11:53.326-04:002012-10-04T03:11:53.326-04:00Thanks for writing this. Just thought I'd shar...Thanks for writing this. Just thought I'd share my perspective, as a journalist who's written about personal genomics several times now.<br /> <br />I do very much want to communicate the complexities of genetic testing without beating the fear drum, and I'm not afraid to explain my reader what an odds ratio is or how a GWAS works, but I do struggle and stumble when I have to include all the different aspects of DTC in a single story. There are too many of them, and I have different thoughts on every single one.<br /><br />Disease risk prediction? I'm not too impressed. Carriership or drug response? I can see the use. So I have Neanderthal ancestry? Now that's frickin' awesome.<br /><br />As a journalist, I see different stories and I want to tell them all. Earlier this week it was disease risk prediction, <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtomics/2012/09/27/the-grandmother-and-her-genes-a-grandsons-perspective/" rel="nofollow">for example</a>.<br /><br />What are your thoughts on this strategy? I do worry that a critical piece on disease prediction can comes across as too negative of personal genomics as a whole, but I think (hope?) readers can make the distinction. Lucas Brouwershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15192035237302508309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-13486390455834574712012-10-03T07:44:56.773-04:002012-10-03T07:44:56.773-04:0023andMe gives you much more than estimates of dise...23andMe gives you much more than estimates of disease risk. You get carrier status for simpler traits. In my course we predict our genotypes for carrier genotypes as well as traits like PTC tasting, etc based on family history and phenotypes and then VOILA! And the ancestry, although also narrow and estimated, is useful. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-26905138916582642062012-10-03T01:26:28.981-04:002012-10-03T01:26:28.981-04:00Reading this as we get ready to go to the airport,...Reading this as we get ready to go to the airport, I'll just quickly say that we do have different views on this, but not because we disagree on whether genetic information is scary or not. It's primarily the extent to which it's being sold as a technique that can actually usefully and reliably tell us about disease causation or risk that we question. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about genetics that is going along for the ride. But I do agree with you, Holly; that there's a lot of questionable questioning going on too! Let's hope it will all shake out as the field ages and people learn what can actually be done with it. Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-57603303899116084862012-10-02T07:51:37.648-04:002012-10-02T07:51:37.648-04:00^ Much better but still strange. What the hell doe...^ Much better but still strange. What the hell does someone planting your DNA at a crime scene have anything to do with having access to your own genetic data?Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-85136195707111805302012-10-02T07:30:32.179-04:002012-10-02T07:30:32.179-04:00OK. This one, today, this story is MUCH better. Go...OK. This one, today, this story is MUCH better. Good job NPR. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/02/161110956/will-low-cost-genome-sequencing-open-pandoras-box" rel="nofollow">Will Low-Cost Genome Sequencing Open Pandora's Box?</a>Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-54374630820955626082012-10-01T09:34:28.269-04:002012-10-01T09:34:28.269-04:00A study of the myths of cancer risk speaks exactly...A study of the myths of cancer risk speaks exactly to today's post!<br /><br /><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Myths-obstruct-efforts-to-prevent-cancer/articleshow/16628151.cms" rel="nofollow">"Overall, 90 percent people, including healthcare professionals, believed genetics ''strongly'' increases risk. More than one in four of the public believed that more than 50 percent of cancers are genetic. Incredibly 15 percent of people we surveyed believed lifetime risk of cancer is non-modifiable," Dr Power said."</a>Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-46823339826282012412012-10-01T07:43:39.594-04:002012-10-01T07:43:39.594-04:00For this piece in particular. There is more about ...For this piece in particular. There is more about the movie Gattaca (that many people haven't seen but which is FICTION) than there is about real concerns. <br /><br />How can we NOT suspect that some media, even NPR, are/is more invested in keeping us entertained (and making sure we continue to throw money at that entertainment by keeping our imaginations running wild, uncritically) than actually informing us?Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.com