4 ms·

Has anyone used the 23andMe service? I'd like to know how accurate the results are. Can they say you definitely carry a gene for diabetes or lactose intoleranc

Has anyone used the 23andMe service? I'd like to know how accurate the results are. Can they say you definitely carry a gene for diabetes or lactose intolerance, for example, or do they just say you're at a higher chance of developing this? The website example given for carrier diseases looks so vague it's not worth bothering with ("You are a carrier of one or more infected conditions"... great, which ones!) If they can give me a list of things I need to be mindful of in the future and, more importantly, why, I'd happily pay $99 for that. I.e; you've got this and that gene which leaves you susceptible to this condition which may lead to heart disease, etc. and we're %xx certain. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing?

raphman 13y ago
No personal experience but someone blogged (in German, unfortunately) recently about a bug in 23andMe's analysis algorithm that resulted in him being told that he was terminally ill. He spent a lot of time learning everything about the purported gene malfunction, found the bug in 23andMe's assumptions and got it fixed upstream. Certainly not a nice experience. [1] http://www.ctrl-verlust.net/23andme-wie-ich-fur-todkrank-erklart-wurde-und-mich-wieder-gesund-debuggte/ http://www.ctrl-verlust.net/23andme-wie-ich-fur-todkrank-erk...
imaffett 13y ago
Hey _mulder_ I have an account - for me it was worth it. It confirmed some "suspicions" I had about some of my families genetic predisposition. It can show inherited conditions, and what genes you have (maybe 1 of the 4 markers for a condition). They do show % certainty, and then they also show your chance of certain health risks vs the national average. I'd be happy to explain more - I'll admit I haven't looked into all the results (or try to understand them), but I was happy with the $99 cost.

raphman 13y ago

No personal experience but someone blogged (in German, unfortunately) recently about a bug in 23andMe's analysis algorithm that resulted in him being told that he was terminally ill. He spent a lot of time learning everything about the purported gene malfunction, found the bug in 23andMe's assumptions and got it fixed upstream. Certainly not a nice experience. [1] http://www.ctrl-verlust.net/23andme-wie-ich-fur-todkrank-erklart-wurde-und-mich-wieder-gesund-debuggte/ http://www.ctrl-verlust.net/23andme-wie-ich-fur-todkrank-erk...

imaffett 13y ago

Hey _mulder_ I have an account - for me it was worth it. It confirmed some "suspicions" I had about some of my families genetic predisposition. It can show inherited conditions, and what genes you have (maybe 1 of the 4 markers for a condition). They do show % certainty, and then they also show your chance of certain health risks vs the national average. I'd be happy to explain more - I'll admit I haven't looked into all the results (or try to understand them), but I was happy with the $99 cost.