Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing: Is the public ready for simple, at-home DNA tests to detect disease risk?

14th December 2018

Excerpt from article:

“There is also the issue of DTC tests’ effects on people, both mental and behavioral. Research in this area is in the early stages; so far, however, the results seem to indicate that the effects are very minimal (if there are any at all) in terms of changing lifestyle behaviors, such as diet and exercise, to reduce risk. ‘The research I’ve seen does not show much evidence of behavior change following DTC genetic testing,’ says Anna Middleton, who is both chair of the Association of Genetic Nurses and Counselors in the United Kingdom and head of society and ethics research with the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge, United Kingdom (Figure 6). ‘For all of us to live longer, healthier lives, we need to eat healthy and do more exercise—and you don’t need a DTC test to tell you that.'”

• Full article on Pulse IEEE's website

Bates M (2018) Quotes from Anna Middleton. ‘Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing: Is the public ready for simple, at-home DNA tests to detect disease risk?’ IEEE Pulse Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018 issue. Published online 14 December. Available at: https://www.embs.org/pulse/articles/direct-to-consumer-genetic-testing/ [Accessed: 19 November 2020]