[undomiel (OP)]

hi there -- my virgin post.  [:I]

i have a friend who just got his genetic profile done gratis, courtesy of another friend of his who apparently is starting up some business just providing the profiles.

my question is: aside from just seeing the visual representation -- which i might add, is way cool -- is this useful to him at all?  the first possible application that leapt into my mind was: would it make sense to compare it to his daughter's, who has autism?

i am just so curious about it, and can't find a way to comprehend it in a way meaningful to me, not just forensic applications, etc.   (if i'm being too star trek about this, please someone just poke me. []

thanks ~

[Mjhavok]

He can be screened to see if he has any known disease causing genes. Huntington's, several cancer genes etc etc etc.

[another_someone]

I am not sure that it can be as specific as that – but in any case, you would have to know what you are looking for.

Ofcourse, it may be able to tell if his daughter was illegitimate []

I would think that testing for things like Huntingdon's would need very specific tests, not general results like that (but again, I may be wrong).  On the other hand Huntingdon's is a very closely mapped familial inheritance pattern – if you do not have and family history of Huntingdon's, there is no feasible likelihood that you will have it.  There are other diseases that have more complex inheritance patterns, as well as some susceptibility to some diseases that is inheritable, but I am not at all sure that such a simple broad tool such as the visual image that you have would be specific enough for that.

In any event, if one is being genetically tested for specific diseases, it is generally considered bad practice to hand out such diagnostic information without also offering counselling to allow you to properly interpret the information, and help to understand and mitigate the risks as appropriate.

George

[undomiel (OP)]

well, his daughter *is* the spitting image of him, so no worries there.[]

i know about checking probability of disease, etc.  but i think as this has been just an interesting item for him, and it's presented in a popular format (photo of the slide), that it doesn't make sense to pursue.  i know that in the back of his mind he is wondering if his daughter's condition could be traced to a genetic predisposition, but i don't think the science is there yet.

thanks all for your input.  []

[Mjhavok]

No, I think you maybe right. It may require a specific test. I done an essay on it for university last year. Turns out if 1 of your parents has the mutant gene then there is a 50% chance the offspring will get it if the procreate. Thing is most huntington's sufferers don't show symptons till they are in their forties or older so they wouldn't know they are giving it to their kids unless they got screened. Also there is a direct corolation between the amount of CAG repeats in the gene and the age at which you get it. The more repeats the younger you show symptoms. I found it quite interesting.

Steven

[another_someone]

quote:Originally posted by undomiel
i know about checking probability of disease, etc.  but i think as this has been just an interesting item for him, and it's presented in a popular format (photo of the slide), that it doesn't make sense to pursue.  i know that in the back of his mind he is wondering if his daughter's condition could be traced to a genetic predisposition, but i don't think the science is there yet.

Autism can be from any number of causes – there will never be one test for the cause of autism.

If there was a well established genetic disorder, then it would probably have many symptoms, and autism would only be a part of it.

Whether there is an inheritable predisposition to some types of autism we do not know about (which could come as easily from the mother's side as the father's), then he might ask himself if there are other family members who have a milder form of the condition that show a familial pattern.  If he can't think of any other family member that has any condition resembling that of his daughter, then it is unlikely that there would be a significant genetic component.

George

[MayoFlyFarmer]

to answer the initial question, what can be told from a genetic profile totally depends on what exactly kind of genetic profile was done.  there are many ways that one could "profile" a persons genome, some would be very specific, others more broad, and what information can be taken from this is totally a matter of what what was done.

Are YOUR mice nude? []