Suppose you are expecting a baby and the obstetrician or genetic counselor tells you that they detected your future child possesses a gene which is associated with the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This neuromuscular disease with its severe progressive muscle weakness doesn’t usually begin to exhibit itself until after age 40. It’s earlyContinueContinue reading “We have the results of the prenatal genetic screening back…”
Tag Archives: genetic testing
New and improved prenatal screening: do expecting parents understand what these tests mean?
“It’s your pregnancy. Demand the accuracy of the MaterniT21 PLUS test.” “No confusion. Just simple, clear results.” So reads Sequenom Laboratories’ website, speaking to prospective parents and health care providers. The MaterniT21 test is marketed as a noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) screening for trisomies 21 (Down syndrome), 18 (Edwards syndrome) and 13 (Patu syndrome) byContinueContinue reading “New and improved prenatal screening: do expecting parents understand what these tests mean?”
Direct to Consumer Genetic Testing – mostly harmless
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, genetic tests available to the general public that do not require the involvement of a health care practitioner, have been on the market for nearly a decade now, but there is still a great deal of controversy surrounding this type of testing and what regulation is needed. In 2013 the FDAContinueContinue reading “Direct to Consumer Genetic Testing – mostly harmless”
Ethics and Policy 