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A lot has been said about (and argued over) Direct To Consumer (DTC) testing. For extensive coverage of the pros and cons of regulation of such genetic testing please go see The Gene Sherpa and Genetic Future (also, check out a number of recent papers in Nature, – to find them, go read the relevant posts at The Genetic Genealogist or Genetic Future). I have voiced opinions on this too, but have decided to desist more arguing (for a while) after reading this editorial in Nature biotechnology:
1. We need to move from late to early diagnosis
It is virtually impossible to conceive of a sustainable form of healthcare that operates as the current systems in industrialized nations do. At present, healthcare is based on the late diagnosis of disease and the division of diseases into a few categories based on some overarching gross similarities. And it firmly places physicians as the central gatekeepers of information.
2. To do this we need find ways to utilize the potential unleashed by large scale analysis of genetic-material.
The healthcare of the future, on the other hand, if the technical potential to provide personalized medicine is ever to be realized, will probably require a greatly expanded emphasis on diagnosis and monitoring, early and subtle intervention, monitoring of the impact of intervention, and gradual adaptation of treatment with the evolving physiology, metabolism and lifestyle of the individual.
3. But, the medical professionals and healthcare systems do not currently have the capacity to adequately respond.
Faced with this huge expansion of data on ‘my’ health, it will simply not be affordable to maintain our dependence on medical gatekeepers, whether they are physicians or genetic counselors, without individuals taking a much greater responsibility for their own wellbeing. Whether the medical establishment likes it or not, it will be too cumbersome and too expensive to conduct personalized medicine if all diagnostic-to-therapeutic decisions depend on doctors.
4. Therefore, In order to adapt to this new situation, we need to find the golden mean between no regulation and over-regulation.
For personal genomics not to be stillborn, the medical community and regulators thus need to reevaluate their role as gatekeepers. Clearly, they need to be involved in the medical actions that might follow as a consequence of genetic or other diagnostic testing. And for any gene test, regulators must ensure that companies make claims to consumers that are both truthful and accurate. But simply shutting down the whole direct-to-consumer gene testing enterprise because it departs from the traditional genetic testing paradigm of doctorordered test will both retard progress and stifle investment in more advanced whole-genome sequencing technologies—technologies that have the potential to ultimately deliver the promise of genomedirected medicine.
Regulation is obviously needed at some level. However, I reside in a country where regulation completely stifles any attempt to do personalized medicine, even at the most innocent (Cyp 450) level. I strongly advise against such an approach. Transferring all testing currently offered by DTC companies, to existing health-care programs will flood the system, and hence is not an option either.
In my opinion, there is an imminent need to define the subgroup of genetic tests that needs to be accompanied by counseling/medical advice. Group those out sensibly, grade them according to counseling importance, and you have a solution.
BIOpinionated 