Monday, March 12, 2018

23andMe


Senator Elizabeth Warren

You’ve all heard of Senator Elizabeth Warren, a front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination and an unswattable black fly inside Donald Trump’s shorts.  Trump refers to her as Pocahontas, because she once claimed Native American heritage to qualify for some political/academic/financial advantage.  All goes to show that even Progressive icons can have feet of clay; if Senator Warren is part Native American than I am a full-blooded Maori.  Maybe a Mohawk chief once kissed her great aunt on the forehead, but that’s as far as it goes.

I bring this up because the FDA has just approved 23andMe as a reliable source of genetic testing for BRCA mutations.  The cost seems to be a bit less than $200, but as the web article (below) indicates their analysis may not be of much use.  Other sources of genetic information are described.  Your best bet: a genetics counselor. 
   
Oh, why Elizabeth Warren?  Well, it is being suggested that she take a genetics test to verify her Native American heritage.  She refuses.

https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/03/12/fda-approves-23andme-cancer-test-brca-genes-12686

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