Ronald Bailey Argues that the FDA Should Let People Get Their Genes Tested

Earlier this week the Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to the direct to consumer gene testing company 23andMe ordering the company to stop marketing its $99 genotype screening test. So what are the FDA's bureaucrats worried about? Evidently they fear that purchasers of 23andMe's personal genome services will do something dangerously stupid in reaction to the genetic risk information that the tests provide. Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey points out that the FDA has offered no evidence that 23andMe test results are going to produce an outbreak of do-it-yourself mastectomies.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?