4 ms·

Definitely interested in this. I had my genome sequenced at 23andme and they say I am at a higher risk for early onset Alzheimer's (My parents and grandparents

Definitely interested in this. I had my genome sequenced at 23andme and they say I am at a higher risk for early onset Alzheimer's (My parents and grandparents were/are fine) because I have the two mutations they test for. Just last year I was diagnosed with glaucoma, at the ripe age of 32. So I go to the eye doctor somewhat regularly now. Wonder if this is something I can start keeping track of, for science, or something.

gwbas1c 8y ago
> sequenced at 23andme Be careful. My wife, a geneticist, calls 23andme "for entertainment purposes only."
- corndoge 8y ago
  No offense, but your wife's opinion isn't really worth anything stated unqualified like that
  - Not_a_pizza 8y ago
    But then maybe she's onto something. Some Genetic Tests Apparently Can’t Tell If You’re Dog Or Human https://futurism.com/home-genetics-test-dog-human https://futurism.com/home-genetics-test-dog-human How DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage, and Probably Yours, Too https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-1820932637 https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-herit... I Took 9 Different Commercial DNA Tests and Got 6 Different Results https://www.livescience.com/63997-dna-ancestry-test-results-explained.html https://www.livescience.com/63997-dna-ancestry-test-results-... How Accurate Are Online DNA Tests? (Betteridge's Law of Headlines might still somewhat play into this one.) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-online-dna-tests/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-... Consumer DNA Tests Are Wrong 40 Percent of the Time https://www.geek.com/science/study-consumer-dna-tests-are-wrong-40-percent-of-the-time-1735529/ https://www.geek.com/science/study-consumer-dna-tests-are-wr... Consumer Affairs' 23 and me rating (1.5/5 stars) https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/23andme.html https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/23andme.html The words "Fly By Night" definitely come to mind. Combine that with ongoing privacy murkiness, and 23andme is basically the medical version of Facebook. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-dna-with-consumer-genetic-testing-companies.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-d...
    - loa-in-backup 8y ago
      > Some Genetic Tests Apparently Can’t Tell If You’re Dog Or Human We do share a lot of genetic code, so checking for a specific aminoacid sequence could very unsurpisingly detect it in both
      - Not_a_pizza 8y ago
        People have tried spoofing with dogs, but dogs aren't even that close genetically compared to other animals. Makes one wonder if they'd be able to detect a chimpanzee. https://www.thedodo.com/animals-you-had-no-idea-were-so-closely-related-to-humans-1172946617.html https://www.thedodo.com/animals-you-had-no-idea-were-so-clos... The real test should be sending in your own genes twice. They might not detect exactly the same because of minor mutagenic differentiation that has taken place (or because you're a chimera!), but they should easily place you into the same family tree as yourself.
  - dang 8y ago
    Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?
    - corndoge 8y ago
      My comment was substantive. Saying that "X person who is Z has Y opinion" without giving any reasons - stats, sources, etc - why they have that opinion is what is unsubstantive. My friend, who is a dietician, thinks that chocolate is healthy. Great, but why does anyone care what my friend thinks? The word "dietician" doesn't make their opinion any more valid because there's zero additional data in that sentence to back up the opinion. So it's a useless opinion presented as-is in a comment with no justification. So could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments on hacker news?
- dumbmatter 8y ago
  In this specific case, they do test for the ApoE gene which can you a 20x higher chance of getting Alzheimer's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolipoprotein_E#Alzheimer's_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolipoprotein_E#Alzheimer's_d... 20x more is not a sure thing, but for a disease like Alzheimer's that is already pretty common (e.g. we're not talking about risk increasing from 0.01% to 0.2%) it's more meaningful than just for entertainment purposes. I agree with your wife that for most people their 23andme results will be nothing more than entertainment, but there are a handful of truly meaningful things it can find.
_Microft 8y ago
I'd be way too concerned that results of genetic tests could turn out as self-fulfilling prophecies that I'd take one and have the results reported back to me. Might be nice if it were decoupled from you, e.g. by sending the results to a close relative or your doctor who then knows what to look out for.
ip26 8y ago
Random datapoint of course, but you don't use nasal steroids do you?
- hihungryimdad 8y ago
  Medicine free except for Vyzulta eye drops for my glaucoma.

gwbas1c 8y ago

> sequenced at 23andme Be careful. My wife, a geneticist, calls 23andme "for entertainment purposes only."

corndoge 8y ago
No offense, but your wife's opinion isn't really worth anything stated unqualified like that
- Not_a_pizza 8y ago
  But then maybe she's onto something. Some Genetic Tests Apparently Can’t Tell If You’re Dog Or Human https://futurism.com/home-genetics-test-dog-human https://futurism.com/home-genetics-test-dog-human How DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage, and Probably Yours, Too https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-1820932637 https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-herit... I Took 9 Different Commercial DNA Tests and Got 6 Different Results https://www.livescience.com/63997-dna-ancestry-test-results-explained.html https://www.livescience.com/63997-dna-ancestry-test-results-... How Accurate Are Online DNA Tests? (Betteridge's Law of Headlines might still somewhat play into this one.) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-online-dna-tests/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-are-... Consumer DNA Tests Are Wrong 40 Percent of the Time https://www.geek.com/science/study-consumer-dna-tests-are-wrong-40-percent-of-the-time-1735529/ https://www.geek.com/science/study-consumer-dna-tests-are-wr... Consumer Affairs' 23 and me rating (1.5/5 stars) https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/23andme.html https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/23andme.html The words "Fly By Night" definitely come to mind. Combine that with ongoing privacy murkiness, and 23andme is basically the medical version of Facebook. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-dna-with-consumer-genetic-testing-companies.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-d...
  - loa-in-backup 8y ago
    > Some Genetic Tests Apparently Can’t Tell If You’re Dog Or Human We do share a lot of genetic code, so checking for a specific aminoacid sequence could very unsurpisingly detect it in both
    - Not_a_pizza 8y ago
      People have tried spoofing with dogs, but dogs aren't even that close genetically compared to other animals. Makes one wonder if they'd be able to detect a chimpanzee. https://www.thedodo.com/animals-you-had-no-idea-were-so-closely-related-to-humans-1172946617.html https://www.thedodo.com/animals-you-had-no-idea-were-so-clos... The real test should be sending in your own genes twice. They might not detect exactly the same because of minor mutagenic differentiation that has taken place (or because you're a chimera!), but they should easily place you into the same family tree as yourself.
- dang 8y ago
  Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?
  - corndoge 8y ago
    My comment was substantive. Saying that "X person who is Z has Y opinion" without giving any reasons - stats, sources, etc - why they have that opinion is what is unsubstantive. My friend, who is a dietician, thinks that chocolate is healthy. Great, but why does anyone care what my friend thinks? The word "dietician" doesn't make their opinion any more valid because there's zero additional data in that sentence to back up the opinion. So it's a useless opinion presented as-is in a comment with no justification. So could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments on hacker news?
dumbmatter 8y ago
In this specific case, they do test for the ApoE gene which can you a 20x higher chance of getting Alzheimer's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolipoprotein_E#Alzheimer's_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolipoprotein_E#Alzheimer's_d... 20x more is not a sure thing, but for a disease like Alzheimer's that is already pretty common (e.g. we're not talking about risk increasing from 0.01% to 0.2%) it's more meaningful than just for entertainment purposes. I agree with your wife that for most people their 23andme results will be nothing more than entertainment, but there are a handful of truly meaningful things it can find.

_Microft 8y ago

I'd be way too concerned that results of genetic tests could turn out as self-fulfilling prophecies that I'd take one and have the results reported back to me. Might be nice if it were decoupled from you, e.g. by sending the results to a close relative or your doctor who then knows what to look out for.

ip26 8y ago

Random datapoint of course, but you don't use nasal steroids do you?

hihungryimdad 8y ago
Medicine free except for Vyzulta eye drops for my glaucoma.