Register Log in  Scientific Method / Science & Exploration
Direct to consumer genetic testing raises concerns  A policy
forum in the current Science raises concerns over the growth in
the …  One of the spin-offs from the human genome project has
been the rise of the personal genetics company. Advances in
computing, robotics, and molecular biology have meant that the
price of sequencing DNA has fallen to the point where it is now
possible to perform individual genotyping for a fraction of the
hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the Human Genome
Project (HGP).    Of course, sequencing an entire genome from an
individual is still exorbitantly expensive. James Watson's cost
an estimated $2 million, and currently Craig Venter (he of the
rival, private effort that competed against the HGP to complete
the first sequence) estimates that a full genome would cost
around $300,000.  By contrast, if you don't need to know every
last A, T, C, and G, techniques like DNA arrays can perform
tests that look for individua