Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for addiction susceptibility: a premature commercialisation of doubtful validity and value.
- Authors
- Mathews, Rebecca; Hall, Wayne; Carter, Adrian
- Year
- 2012
- Journal
- Addiction (Abingdon, England)
- PMID
- 22510165
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03836.x
Genetic research on addiction liability and pharmacogenetic research on treatments for addiction have identified some genetic variants associated with disease risk and treatment. Genetic testing for addiction liability and treatment response has not been used widely in clinical practice because most of the genes identified only modestly predict addiction risk or treatment response. However, many of these genetic tests have been commercialized prematurely and are available direct to the consumer (DTC). The easy availability of DTC tests for addiction liability and lack of regulation over their use raises a number of ethical concerns. Of paramount concern is the limited predictive power and clinical utility of these tests. Many DTC testing companies do not provide the consumer with the necessary genetic counselling to assist them in interpreting and acting on their test results. They may also engage in misleading marketing to entice consumers to purchase their products. Consumers' genetic information may be vulnerable to misuse by third parties, as there are limited standards to protect the privacy of the genetic information. Non-consensual testing and inappropriate testing of minors may also occur. The United States Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate DTC genetic tests. Based on the ethical concerns we discuss below, we believe there is a strong case for regulation of DTC genetic tests for addiction liability and treatment response. We argue that until this occurs, these tests have more potential to cause harm than to contribute to improved prevention and treatment of addiction.
No figures extracted from this document.
No chunks — full text not yet ingested.
No entities extracted from this document yet.
No uploaded files.
No citations found.
In this knowledge base
| Title | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|
| Using genetic information from candidate gene and genome-wide association studies in risk prediction for alcohol dependence. | 2014 | 23362995 |
External
| Title | Authors | Journal | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genetic Polymorphisms of <i>ALDH2</i> and <i>ADH1B</i> in Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury: Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation and Disease Progression in East Asian Populations. | Tadokoro T et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests and Canadian Genetic Counselors: A Pilot Exploration of Professional Roles in Response to Novel Biotechnologies. | Haley CE et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| The Landscape of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing in Reproductive Health Contexts: An Analytical Framework of Stakeholders and Their Competing Motivations. | Hsieh E et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| Considerations for developing regulations for direct-to-consumer genetic testing: a scoping review using the 3-I framework. | Cernat A et al. | — | 2022 | → |
| The symptom discounting effect: what to do when negative genetic test results become risk factors for alcohol use disorder. | Ahn WK et al. | — | 2022 | → |
| Predictors of adverse psychological experiences surrounding genome-wide profiling for disease risk. | Broady KM et al. | — | 2018 | → |
| The biology of addiction. | MacNicol B | — | 2017 | → |
| Utilization of Genetic Counseling after Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study. | Koeller DR et al. | — | 2017 | → |
| Building towards precision medicine: empowering medical professionals for the next revolution. | McGrath S et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Clinical application of pharmacogenetics: focusing on practical issues. | Chang MT et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Perceptions of genetic testing and genomic medicine among drug users. | Perlman DC et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Using genetic information from candidate gene and genome-wide association studies in risk prediction for alcohol dependence. | Yan J et al. | — | 2014 | → |
| Addiction science, meet translational genomics. | Koenig BA | — | 2012 | → |
| Consumer genetics and addiction susceptibility testing-just what the consumer ordered. | Saunders R et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| Debating the clinical utility of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for addiction susceptibility. | Borry P et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| Response to commentaries: Slowing down the rush to translation in personal genomics. | Mathews R et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| Testing times. | Ware J et al. | — | 2012 | → |