Genetic tests offered on Net 'dubious'

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Businesses touting "genetic testing services" via the Internet have been mushrooming recently, but many of the tests are scientifically dubious, experts warn.

Online genetic screening firms claim they can do everything from evaluate risks of getting such diseases as cancer and Alzheimer's disease to assess intellectual, athletic and other "talents" of children.

Such businesses have been proliferating in the absence of government regulation of the field, the experts say.

Many of these firms do not scientifically justify their claims, prompting the Japan Society of Human Genetics and genetic medicine specialists to warn against using the services.

The JSHG, a nationwide organization of genetic researchers, says the genetic testing businesses cause serious misunderstanding and unnecessary anxiety among users of their services.

The group has also warned that results of genetic tests constitute highly personal information that may be relevant to the fate of a person's relatives, adding that undergoing such testing without adequate expert counseling is very dangerous.

According to a survey conducted by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in February, 330 firms across the country offer genetic testing services.

While some businesses offer the services on the Internet, others market them at such places as beauty spas, many of which claim they can determine the likelihood of becoming obese, contracting lifestyle diseases and even the risks of getting cancer or developing Alzheimer's.

Some of the firms offer the testing services with a view to having their clients buy their "health food," while some beauty spas make use of genetic tests for the purpose of having their customers select treatments, the ministry said. One genetic screening firm uses "genetic analyses" to measure children's "innate talents."

In an explanatory session it held in Tokyo in early August, the firm said its genetic testing could assess children's talents in six fields, including intelligence, athleticism and arts.

For a fee of 58,000 yen, a sample collected with a cotton swab from the inside of a child's cheek is sent to a company in China that the Japanese firm claims has developed a unique genetic analysis technique that evaluates intelligence as "excellent," "good," "ordinary" and "disadvantageous." It began marketing the testing services on the Internet in June, having so far received 600 applications, the firm said.

Prof. Fumio Takada, a specialist in clinical genetics in the medical department of Kitasato University, attended one of the firm's explanatory sessions. He said its explantions "contained illogicalities regarding connections between functions of genes and what the company claims the effects the genes may have on potential abilities of those who undergo the testing."

The JSHG has called for the government to work out regulatory measures for public entities to supervise the genetic testing businesses, but no such arrangements have been established yet.