Dr. Theodora Ross, a cancer geneticist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, says that to Silicon Valley types, she is like a taxi driver competing against the more convenient, Uber-like direct-to-consumer companies such as 23andMe. "They think we don't need to exist," she said. The techy approach invites consumers to swab a cheek and mail in the sample, and promises to reveal a broad swath of genetic information.
But unbeknownst to many seekers, direct-to-consumer services don't deliver what a cancer geneticist like Ross does. Some people, after submitting DNA to such companies, end up in her office, panicked over what turn out to be a false results.
Even more concerning than false positives are false negatives. People who have serious family histories of cancer and could benefit from a thorough workup will sometimes get a reassuring negative result from a genetic test that was marketed directly to consumers. This kind of error could be deadly.