Genetic testing for single gene disorders is becoming available in Sri Lanka. While it offers many benefits, there are concerns about psychological and social problems that can be a consequence of such tests. This article aims to review the potential benefits and disadvantages of genetic testing, and recommends mechanisms that would help minimise problems associated with the inappropriate use o...

Human genetics research is increasingly concerned with multifactorial conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which are influenced not only by genetic but also lifestyle factors such as diet and smoking. Although the results of 'lifestyle-genetic' tests using this information could conceivably motivate lifestyle changes in the future, companies are already selling such tests and related ...

In this report, we investigate the statistical power of several tests of selective neutrality based on patterns of genetic diversity within and between species. The goal is to compare tests based solely on population genetic data with tests using comparative data or a combination of comparative and population genetic data. We show that in the presence of repeated selective sweeps on relatively ...

Genetic research in sports has a history of more than 40 years of endeavouring to find out which genetic factors can predict the performance of an athlete. With increasing knowledge of the human genome and availability of genetic testing the market of direct-to-consumer genetic tests has exploded in recent years. There are tests for genetic variants for medical and general health issues, but th...

© 2002 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors Although many have debated the ethics of patenting human genes over the past 2 decades, recent controversies surrounding the effect of gene patents on genetic tests for breast and ovarian cancer have brought that debate to a head. In the absence of changes in Canada’s patent laws, physicians will face a variety of legal and ethical dilemmas r...

The main purpose of this article is to present several new statistical tests of neutrality of mutations against a class of alternative models, under which DNA polymorphisms tend to exhibit excesses of rare alleles or young mutations. Another purpose is to study the powers of existing and newly developed tests and to examine the detailed pattern of polymorphisms under population growth, genetic ...

Genetic tests are routinely ordered by health care providers (HCPs) within a wide range of medical specialties. Many providers have limited knowledge or experience with ordering and interpreting genetic tests; thus, test order errors are common. Rigorous review of genetic test orders by genetic counselors (GCs) can provide a direct financial benefit to medical institutions, patients and insurer...

Tests of the genetic structure of empirical populations typically focus on the correlative relationships between population connectivity and geographic and/or environmental factors in landscape genetics. However, such tests may overlook or misidentify the impact of candidate factors on genetic structure, especially when connectivity patterns differ between past and present populations because o...

With the recent expansion of genetic science, its evolving translation to clinical medicine, and the growing number of available resources for genomics in primary care, the primary care provider must increasingly integrate genetics and genomics into daily practice. Because primary care medicine combines the treatment of acute illness with disease prevention and anticipatory guidance, the primar...

An increasing number of individuals are turning to Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) genetic testing to learn about their predisposition to diseases, traits, and/or ancestry. DTC companies like 23andme and Ancestry.com have started to offer popular and affordable ancestry and genealogy tests, with services allowing users to find unknown relatives and long-distant cousins. Naturally, access and possible ...