First, what is the range of risk covered fby the genetic test?   For example, does a test for breast cancer risk cover a 2 fold or a thirty fold range of risk?  Based on the number if genes tested and their interactions, what range of risk is available for you to interpret your test score within for a reasonable appraisal of how likely you could be to get the disease?  Second, does the price of the genetic test include a report that places the observed level of risk in the context of the population at risk? Ask yourself; if not then why not?  Third, if a genetic counselor’s services are available.as part of a package that you are thinking about buying; the customer should verify the background and training of the genetic counselor as well as their availablity. In the United States, genetic counselors are accredited after a course of study that usually ends in a Master’s Degree. Find out about a genetic counselor’s credentials before you sign up. 

We do so by by using many genes known to be associated with a specific disease’s pattern of onset from case control studies to determine the range of risk for the disese in the population and often determines an individual’s risk on that continuum directly based on their genetic endowment. This approach is no small thing and distinguishes our company from many other genetic testing companies which look to provide information on diseases that occur primarily later in life. As a test, try to find out the range of risk used by a company when they tell you about your risk for Alzheirmer’s disease, for example. Do they multipy together results or odds ratios from very different studies to produce a result for you? Do they look a smaller or larger number of genes  to give you an idea of your genetic risk for a particular disease ? Is their range of risk specified?

At Matrix Genomics we rank each individual along a range of risk that is at least 30 fold from very low to high risk and may be 50 fold or more for some diseases. In other words, we try to capture all the variation that is currently available about genes and a particular disease to give our custormers highly informed infoprmation about their risk on a detailed disease by disease basis. This approach has sound scientific backing and it is not the cheapest possible way to measure the genetic risk of contracting disease but it does provide very good information to those who are concerned about their future and disease for any reason at all.

When I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, I was walking across a quiet residential street in the Kenwood neighborhood when Muhamed Ali nearly hit me with his car.  Neither he nor I had been focused on safety at the time. I jumped out of the way as he brought his car to a halt.  We both apologized and went on our way. Genes are certainly not completely responsible for our length of life or its quality. Accidents and environmental effects can and do have great effects on our lives. Measuring the risk of a particular disease in a meticulous manner can and should give us choices that walk hand in hand with the development of a personalized medical plan which you and your doctor can develop.

Larry Corder, Ph.D.