I think that getting a DNA test would be cool to do and I know that my mom did it a while back with her family genes. I’m not sure who she did it through, I just know that her and her sister did it together and were really interested in the stuff they had found. These tests can tell your family tree, what diseases they’ve had, and if you are prone to getting these diseases in your life. A big thing about these DNA tests is that people can tell if your family has a history with cancer and can tell if you can get it as well (Kaur, J.) My mom found that Kidney disease was in our family which is why myself along with a good bit of my family has had kidney stones. Most places give you a swab where you rub the inside of your mouth and you send that into the company for them to test you. Other methods use hair that you can send in but the swab testing seems to be the biggest way that companies have been using (Sample Collection Center). These DNA tests can be accurate and helpful but with different companies, there can be different answers which raises questions. In a video I watched he got different results from two different companies he tested from. He also said in the video that due to newer testing that they go off of what’s been used around the world so there may not have been as big of a DNA test in one place which would cause different percentages.
I don’t believe that it would be super impactful on how I live my life because I like to think that I’m a healthy person who does the right things to stay in good shape and keep my body functioning at a good capacity. I’ve already had kidney stones, so I know I have to work around that in my diet, but other than that I just want to keep living a good and healthy lifestyle. I don’t think I’ll be taking a genetic test because I don’t want people having my DNA, that doesn’t feel right to me. I wouldn’t feel comfortable consenting to these companies with them giving out my DNA results because it could affect me in the sense that I didn’t ask to have a disease, it just happened and I shouldn’t dealt with consequences for having it… (insurance rates go up, being looked at differently, medical tests that I don’t want, etc.). I think that even if it comes to where in the future companies need DNA samples in the future, then they should offer certain compensation if they find something that someone didn’t know they had. They shouldn’t be punished for having a disease that they didn’t ask for.
Kaur, J., Rahat, B., Thakur, S., & Kaur, J. (2017, January 6). Trends in Precision Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128094112000155
Sample Collection Procedure For The Dna Test - Genetic Profiles. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.geneticprofiles.com/procedure/