[ExI] FDA Tells Google-Backed 23andMe to Halt DNA Test Service

[Adrian Tymes]

On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 12:18 PM, Brian Manning Delaney <
listsb at infinitefaculty.org> wrote:

> Everyone "knows" that, in general, light to moderate daily consumption of
> alcohol reduces mortality more than drinking more, or drinking less. (Turns
> out that's a bit controversial, but let's leave that aside.) The link to
> dementia is particularly strong. Let's say you get your 23andMe results
> back, and discover you're an APOE-ε4 carrier. 23andMe tells you the odds of
> your developing Alzheimer's is much greater than avg. You do some digging
> and learn that, for ε4-carriers, the "little is better than none" rule
> about drinking doesn't apply: the more you drink, starting from zero, the
> greater the risk.
>
> So you become a teetotaler.
>
> But say it turns out you aren't an ε4-carrier. Well, you changed your
> behavior, and it was harmful (assuming the J-curve idea about alcohol
> consumption -- at least for non-ε4 carriers -- is correct).
>

A better and more relevant example: what if your digging turns out to be
wrong, and c4 carriers' minimum risk is greater than average?

And what if 23andMe tells you specifically that you need to drink more or
less than average, when in fact it's the opposite?  They're right that
you're a c4-carrier, but not what it means.
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