genes aren't so great at predicting disease

[mellowtigger]

Testing such as I had done at 23andme.com is not quite as useful as researchers (and afficionados like me) had once hoped.  They're finding that creatures are much more complex than just the programming in their dna.  Part of the problem is that genetics includes lots and lots of evolutionary baggage.  Study of the machinery that decides which parts gets used (instead of locked into "cold storage" indefinitely) is now called the science of epigenetics.  It's a second layer of inherited information.

Genetics covers the 4 main bases of dna, the chemicals that encode every protein that the body CAN produce.  Epigenetics covers additional chemical markers that are latched onto dna, "methylated" bases, that determine which of these possible proteins that a body actually WILL produce.

"One key epigenetic player is DNA methylation, which targets sites where cytosine precedes guanine in the DNA code. An enzyme called DNA methyltransferase affixes a methyl group to cytosine, creating a different but stable nucleotide called 5-methylcytosine. This modification in the promoter region of a gene results in gene silencing."
- http://www.physorg.com/news159111225.html

Quoting David Goldstein of Duke University, "With only a few exceptions, what the genomics companies are doing right now is recreational genomics... the information has little or in many cases no clinical relevance.”
- http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/16/genetic-testing-provides-few-easy-answers/

So I added $400 to my Visa bill (in addition to about $1500 recently for car repairs *SIGH*) for entertainment.  I knew it was such when I did it, but I succumbed to curiosity.  That happens sometimes.  :)  I don't mind going into debt for that kind of entertainment.  I learn a lot from the process eventually.  I just need to get back onto this project, after other recent distractions are finally over.

Comments

the technology is getting there

[bearbarry.livejournal.com]

... but it has limitations. It's best application is for identifying likely carriers of rare genetic disorders to provide counseling. What you had done can give you some insights, but it isn't fully diagnostic.

[kroyd.livejournal.com]

Hey Terry the Tigger,
Your posts are amazing. I learn a lot by reading them. LOL.... I wish there was a way to assure that my children get only my best genes. But, alas, they got what they got. So far the both seem to be fine speceimens of homosapiens. They are pretty amazing people too, at 8 and 5 years of age.
Kroyd

[moofedct.livejournal.com]

I saw a news segment on 23andme.com and what it can do for people. The end of the segment said that while the information they provide can be very helpful, most people would be better off by eating well and going to the gym. I think it would apply to me, but as for you, I think you might get more out of it than me.