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Renowned Geneticist Analyzes Consumer DNA Tests
pdragon04 sends in the hardly surprising news that direct-to-consumer genetic testing isn't predicting diseases as well as they claim. "...[Francis] Collins, who played a central role in the Human Genome Project and is rumored to be the next head of the National Institutes of Health, announced at the Consumer Genetics Conference in Boston last week that he had had his genome analyzed [using a made-up name] by the big three of direct-to-consumer genetic testing: 23andMe, Navigenics, and DecodeMe. Collins said that sequence-wise, the tests 'appear to be highly accurate': there were almost no differences in the genotype information generated in the three different analyses. But there were significant differences in the numbers of genetic variations used to calculate disease risk, as well as the final risk score. ... For example, one company used 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, to calculate risk for a particular disease, pronouncing Collins at low risk. Another used 10 SNPs, placing him at high risk, and the third used 15, concluding that he is at average risk."
First, of all that's not accurate. Collins is pretty strongly against creationism in most of its forms, including classical young earth creationism and intelligent design. He is a variant of a theistic evolutionist with perhaps more of a notion of direct intervention by God than most theistic evolutionists. So describing him as you did is inaccurate.
Even if Collins views were not more moderate than you portray them, it wouldn't make his expertise any less. To use another example, I think that Noam Chomsky has a very strange ideas in his head about politics and how the media work. That doesn't mean I'm going to pay less attention to him when he talks about linguistics. Someone can have bad ideas in one area and still be an expert in another. Given his background, Collins clearly knows what he is talking about and is qualified to evaluate the products in question.
Sounds like there's room in the market for just the risk analysis. No reason to have the dirty work done three times - just sequence once and get a whole range of opinions, or focus on certain areas for detailed analysis. maybe this already exists.
And if they drop a couple of Gs in the sequencing, god only knows what kind of results you'll get back