Quest: Genetic Testing Through the Web

If you could learn your odds of getting cancer, heart disease or diabetes, would you? A new generation of home genetic testing kits allows anybody with a cotton swab and a mailbox to find out. But does convenience come with a privacy risk? UCSF doctors and genetics counselors focus on the patient. Beth Crawford, MS, a genetic counselor at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the most importance part of genetic testing is making sure the patient understands the complexities of the results they get. Robert Nussbaum, MD, Holly Smith Distinguished Professor in Medicine and chief, medical genetics, emphasized that genetic information does not necessarily ensure that a disease is in your future. Related Links: Genetic Testing Through the Web Quest, KQED-TV (NPR), February 16, 2007 Guiding Women from Cancer-Stricken Families UCSF Today, April 23, 2001 UCSF Cancer Risk Program UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center UCSF Institute for Human Genetics