Review You

I stumbled upon a neat little site called Access DNA. They perform a DNA testing for you that allows you to determine which genetic testing might be best for you based on your family and personal medical history and learn about some of the genetic conditions as well.

This site is in Beta right now, so I expected to see a few glitches. I went through and completed the free profile that asks a few basic questions and went through the entire test. Total time: less than 10 minutes.

There were some things that I noticed when I was answering the questions that I wasn’t too sure about. Obviously, if you are having kids, you’ll want to take into consideration your spouse’s personal and family history. But the questions only listed You and Your Family. Where does my spouse fit in? I continued to answer the questions solely on me and my family. There were also some medical terms for which I didn’t know the definition. I suppose though, if you or your family had the condition, you’d know what they were. I really like the fact that because you are creating an account, you can always go back and update particular areas of your medical history so you always have a current version of your report.

The report left me a little surprised. As suspected, the glitches came in the form of incomplete HTML which meant there was a lot of codes left visible instead of formatting the page the way in which it was intended to be shown. I think that the report could have been spelled out a little more clearer - there were tests suggested and I didn’t even know what the heck they were for. There were facilities listed where you could get the testing done, and I think that a link to the site or a phone number would be a good option here. The report could also be made more useful by telling me why I should get a test done. For example, I reported a family history of Asthma, and that page suggested a Whole Genome Screening. At a cost of nearly $1000, I really want to know what the purpose of getting screened will be. When I reported the prepscription and over the counter medication I took, I was given a report that stated that for $400 a company could do some testing on me to determine … well I don’t know what they would determine. I can do an online search for any medication I am on to receive free information.

All in all, I think this could be a valuable site and tool but the reports need to be more specific and offer some solid reasons, pros and cons for continuing with the testing.

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