Compare Your Genes: What Will Your Kids be Like?
23andme.com will take your spit, extract the genetic data and analyze for a whole mess of information. Some things you get from this information and their analysis tools:
- Calculate your odds of getting certain diseases (e.g. MS and Alzheimer’s)
- Uncover your ancestry - information about ethnicity, location, infamous and famous predecessors
- Discover where certain traits, such as athleticism, food preferences and sleep habits come from.
- Compare your genes to friends and family members
- Social and family networking could get very interesting (Facebook vs Genebook)
Pregnancy and parenting will change thanks to this service.
Pregnancy
If you are considering having kids, this has big implications. For just $2,000, you can get in-depth information about the risks you and your partner have in combining your reproductive juices. Genetic counseling is an area that could see huge benefits in the near future.
Child-rearing
The company’s privacy statement allows for children to get analyzed. How will knowing my child’s genetic strengths and weaknesses change my parenting tactics? What if a gene for chess wizards is discovered and my daughter has it? Unless she played at some point, I would have never known to encourage her.
The potential to learn about yourself, your girl and your offspring is huge. There are also big privacy concerns. I intend to do this at some point, and will gladly share my results here.