The Ethics of DTC Genetic Testing

It's ten years since the first draft of the human genome was published. This was truly one of the greatest feats the human race has accomplished. A decade later, and a scant sixty years since the double helix of DNA was identified, it's now possible to send a swab from your cheek off to a laboratory and be given a list of alleles that show whether you're more or less prone to certain diseases and conditions. This nascent industry, DTC (or Direct-to-Consumer) Genetic Testing, has been in the news for the past couple of months, and for none of the right reasons.