The best prerequisite for effective disease prevention is early detection. Science is aware of a growing number of genetic variants tied to our predisposition to disease. Prevention or early detection is a possibility for some. Genetic diagnostics is constantly improving while costs are sinking. At the same time the number of questionable tests that are sold over the Internet is rising. They are directed at the consumer, however often they are not accompanied by qualified genetic advice. A working group, established by the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina together with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and Humanities and the German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech, presented an expert report on the opportunities and limits of predictive genetic diagnostics in healthy people in autumn 2010.
The expert report helps answer the following questions:
ML = Member of the Leopoldina
Life Sciences