The Dark Side of Personalized Medicine And Sports Genetic Testing
Like it or not, the possibility of money and profit drives science just like it does any other field. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a few genetic testing companies have created DNA-based kits that purport to be able to predict the athletic capabilities of children and young adults.
The kits developed by Australia-based Genetic Technologies (sold in the US by Atlas Sports Genetics) and CyGene Laboratories of Coral Springs, FL are based on variations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the alpha actin-3 (ACTN3) gene that encodes a protein involved in actin development of muscle fibers in skeletal muscles. Atlas sells the kit for $169 whereas CyGene’s kit costs $100.
Presumably, kids that possess the appropriate ACTN3 DNA sequences may be athletically more gifted than those who do not. As we scientists know, innate athletic ability is more than likely a multigenic trait and the presence or lack of a single DNA sequence or SNP cannot reliably predict a person’s future athletic potential. However, most parents who already have been sold on the power of personalized medicine do not! Again, it should come as no surprise that parents are buying these kits and testing their children to determine whether or not they ought to sign their kids up for pee wee soccer or T-ball at age 3! Perhaps, even more egregiously, is what may happen to the kids who test “negative” for ACTN? Will they be relegated to the bench (pardon the pun) for the rest of their lives? To wit, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (my alma mater) this week published a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association to disabuse parents that these tests are predictive of their children’s athletic ability or even worth the money they paid to purchase them!
Like these authors, I believe that the companies that developed the ACTN3 tests are clearly putting profits before science. There is no question that we have entered the “age of personalized medicine.” But, most personalized medicine tests are still not ready for prime time and companies that assert that it is are being deceptive or disingenuous at best. Similar sentiments were echoed by J. Craig Venter in an interview that I conducted with him which is published in this month’s edition of Life Science Leader. Like him or not , without Venter, the so-called age of personalize medicine would have likely been delayed by three to five years or more. Nevertheless, put simply, at its current stage of development, personalized medicine is clearly being oversold to the American public!
There is no question that real personalized medicine will be a reality in the next 5 to 10 years. hat said, we are simply not there yet. The fact that many genetic tests like ACTN3 are not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration suggests that new regulations and over sight for them is desperately needed! Also, new initiatives must be created to improve the US public’s understanding of science—it can no longer be ignored as we continue our push into the age of personalized medicine!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Go Badgers!
The consolidation trend in the US life sciences industry continues. Carlsbad, CA-based Invitrogen, a provider of cells, molecular and biochemical probes and reagents used in life sciences research,