Thinking about having your DNA tested to see if you have any genetically-inherited health concerns? Well, it looks like you're too late. The Food and Drug Administration has forbidden the genetic testing service
23and Me , which identifies more than 240 health characteristics and traits for a cheap $99, from soliciting new customers.
Nick Gillespie has the whole infuriating story here. In its infinite wisdom, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has forbidden the personal genetic testing service 23andMe from soliciting new customers, claiming the company hasn’t proven the validity of its product.
The real reason? Because when it comes to learning about your own goddamn genes, the FDA doesn’t think you can handle the truth. That means the FDA is now officially worse than Oedipus’s parents, Dr. Zaius, and the god of Genesis combined, telling us that there are things that us mere mortals just shouldn’t be allowed to know.
23andMe allows you to get rudimentary information about your genetic makeup, including where your ancestors came from and DNA markers for over 240 different hereditary diseases and conditions (not all of them bad, by the way). Think of it as the H&M version of the haute couture genetic mark-up that Angelina Jolie had done prior to having the proactive mastectomy that she revealed this year....
Read the whole thing. And ask yourself just why the government thinks you aren't grown-up enough to know about your genetic makeup.
Onward and upward,
airforce
