IF YOU discovered that your genes made you prone to obesity, would you eat dessert as usual or rush to the gym? It鈥檚 not a trick question. Whether people act on news of their genetic fate or simply ignore it is the subject of a .
Announced last week, the study was prompted by the recent launch of a clutch of companies offering genetic tests directly to consumers. The study will be partly funded by one of these firms 鈥� Navigenics of Redwood Shores, California.
Nevertheless, of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego, California, says that independent scientists will be in charge. 鈥淲e have complete, independent control of the database and all publications derived from the study.鈥�
Advertisement
Topol says plenty of gene variants have robust links to disease, despite a recent analysis in the American Journal of Human Genetics which casts doubt on many claimed associations between genes and disease (), and a US Government Accountability Office investigation which found that different companies interpret the same gene data differently.
Genetics 鈥� Keep up with the pace in our continually updated special report.
