Introduction to Genetic Testing
As scientific and medical discoveries help us better understand how our genetic make up affects our bodies and our health, new tests are also being developed to help individuals know whether their genes align with certain diseases or conditions. People have begun to wonder whether they should undergo genetic testing. That decision can be made by understanding what genetic testing is all about, and reviewing the pros and cons of genetic testing.
Why Are Genetic Tests Developed?
For thousands of years, human bodies have developed diseases or conditions with very little knowledge about why. Why does one woman develop breast cancer, but another one does not? Why does one man develop Parkinson's Disease, but another does not? While environmental factors could tell part of the story, it was recognized that there must be something about that person's body that contributed to development of these medical problems, too.
Early development of medical science was mostly aimed at making sure diseases and conditions could be cured or healed. During the past 50 or 60 years, science began looking at a person's genetic make up as a way to answer more fundamental questions about why humans varied in their development of these kinds of problems.
Other human body questions developed over time, too, often in response to legal questions. Questions like, who fathered a particular baby? Or whose blood was found on a murder weapon?
Beginning in the 1950s and 60s when DNA was discovered as the basis of human cells, and genes were discovered as the basis for DNA and heredity, and therefore no two human beings had exactly the same genes or DNA, scientists realized they could begin to answer some of those questions. For example, if they examined the genetic makeup of a group of people who had the same disease, they could come to some conclusions about the similarities of their genes, and why their genes were different from someone who did not have that disease. Or, if they mapped someone's DNA, they could compare it to someone else's DNA and know whether the two people were related.
By 2003, the Human Genome Project was completed, and scientists were able to identify every gene in a human's body. Other scientists began pairing them with the medical problems they cause. Among the earliest disease-identifiable genes were the BRCA genes, known to influence development of breast cancer. More new gene-disease identifications are being made every day.
As these pairings are discovered, scientists can begin to see how they influence development of disease or conditions, and can, hopefully, someday then develop ways to stop those genes from their destiny of creating those medical problems. These are the early days of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine means a person's genetic makeup is what influences either preventive steps to avoid disease, or drugs or other medical treatments that are tailored to a person based on their genetic makeup.
