A new genetic technique has been discovered in predicting various genetic factors by Stephen Hsu of Michigan State University. His group has designed an algorithm that can accurately predict a person height, intelligence, and bone density based off a computer-based algorithm looking at a subject's full genome. The article states that instead of using traditional genetic testing methods where you look for a change in a person's genes or chromosomes, Hsu uses numerous genomic changes as predictors (Michigan State, 2018). The results show that the algorithm is not as accurate as predicting intelligence as it is bone density and height, but is within less than an inch on height and even more accurate on bone density. Hsu hopes to be able to further develop the algorithm in an attempt to predict various genetic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The use of a large portion of the genome and how multiple factors can come into play is probably why this algorithm is so accurate. We have learned that various traits have variable penetrance and expressivity within populations. This may be due to a variety of factors playing numerous roles, and looking at specific genes or modifications in genes will not be able to give us the overall picture we are looking for. The interesting yet scary thought that comes to mind is how a mathematical algorithm is able to predict our genetic makeup. The potential of how this algorithm can be used as a predictor, and how low cost it would be to use in practice, might be a very effective and beneficial tool in the future.
Sources:
Michigan State University. (2018, October 4). New DNA tool predicts height, shows promise for serious illness assessment. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 7, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181004143856.htm
Article link:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181004143856.htm
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ReplyDeleteThis is an incredible advancement! It is mindblowing to think that a simple genetic test could predict a person's health in the future. It reminds me of the movie "Gattaca," which is set in a dystopian future society where genoism, or the discrimination of people based on their genetic quality and their DNA, is rampant due to the widespread use of highly developed genetic modification of people from birth (designer babies). One scene shows the main character (who was born naturally, w/o modification) being born, and immediately receiving a genetic test of some sort that predicts the entire health history of the main character. "Now at only seconds old, the exact time and cause of my death was already known." The doctor begins to rattle off the likelihood of developing various neurological disorders, mental disorders, and cardiac disorders, before giving the main character's final life expectancy of 30.2 years. MINDBLOWING and utterly TERRIFYING.
ReplyDeleteMy only question with this new tool and the future potential presented in the movie would be "how would this test account for changes in genes and gene interactions throughout a person's life and beyond?" After reading a few studies, I found that exposure to different environmental stresses can change the interactions of genes and is related to the development of various diseases involved with the endoplasmic reticulum stress response or sensitivity to radiation (Nayak, R. R., Bernal, W. E., Lee, J. W., Kearns, M. J., & Cheung, V. G. (2014). Stress-induced changes in gene interactions in human cells. Nucleic Acids Research, 42(3), 1757–1771. http://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkt999). Also, other environmental factors can cause epigenetic changes as well, such as how parental PTSD can affect methylation of GR-1F promoters in offspring (Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Lehrner, A., Desarnaud, F., Bader, H. N., Makotkine, I., … Meaney, M. J. (2014). Influences of maternal and paternal PTSD on epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in Holocaust survivor offspring. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(8), 872–880. http://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13121571). How does the test account for these differences? Would this test be able to account these effects in the test's results? My point being, even if we tested a person's genome at one point in their life, couldn't environmental factors not predicted within the genetic code cause a change that deviates from the results of that test? Would the complexity and dynamic nature of humans decrease the accuracy of these testing when looking at factors that are more complex than height or bone density? If this is the case, this test would have to be repeated many times throughout a humans life, right? Or am I just not understanding how this tool/test works with the genes of a person?
This isn't to discount the priceless diagnostic value that a genetic test like this could bring to medicine in predicting disease and building a basis for treatment and healthy living. It is infinitely better to know that a person has the risk of developing certain diseases with some accuracy than it is to guess and assume based on family history or risk factors throughout a person's life. To that end I think this is a huge advancement and can't wait to see more.
I'm pretty curious about how current and future generations will handle advancements in genetic technologies such as this in terms of avoiding or striving towards some form of utilitarianism. To say this another way, I am worried that we may take the wrong path when addressing the question of 'how ought we to use a technology that can accurately predict a person's intelligence'? As we've clearly noted, good research is often considered to be that which is most applicable, and assuredly we would want to increase intelligence-- whatever that may actually be-- of the general population if not our own kin or offspring. But I could very easily see some sort of Eugenic tendency from such a test. If we can test for intelligence from early on in development, what happens when a legal termination of pregnancy occurs because the mother wanted an intelligent child? What happens when another technology like CRISPR allows us to genetically alter an individual in a paternalistic way so as to change their mental capacity without their consent? Does that cross a line into unacceptable genetic enhancement? Should we even allow tests that aim to measure, whether qualitatively or quantitatively, someone's intelligence?
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