• Question: have you looked at your own DNA? if so is it interesting to see how you were formed

    Asked by bella12 to Barbara, Matt, Ravinder, Sophie, Tristan on 16 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Sophie Robinson

      Sophie Robinson answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      I haven’t looked at my own DNA. In the lab we’re not really allowed to experiment with our own DNA, just in case the cells we’re using get back into our bodies through a cut or something and mutate and form a tumour in our bodies.

      Looking at your own DNA is quite controversial because there are many things you can find out from your DNA that you may not want to know. For example you may find out that you have inherited a gene for a horrible disease that you may succumb to later in life. This is something which some people would prefer not to know as it can impact how you live your life. People can pay to get their own DNA looked at, or ‘sequenced’, these days to find out what types of genes they have got. But whether this is ethical or not is under debate. For example if it was discovered that you had a ‘bad’ gene and were going to suffer from some sort of disease, if insurance companies got hold of this information it could cause discrimination.

      On the other hand, some people may want to know about their genes so that they can adapt their lifestyles to minimise the risk of getting a disease.There are pros and cons.

    • Photo: Barbara Shih

      Barbara Shih answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      I have never looked at my own DNA. I would love to! I have been really wanting to buy a kit from 23andme (they analyse your DNA for you), but it’s a bit expensive and my best friend is massively against it – I think my friend is worried that I might find out that I have an illness that leads to shorter lifespan and will not be able to enjoy my life as much.

      I guess for the most part we should just live a healthy lifestyle and our genetics don’t really matter. There are usefulness in some of these genetic tests though – some people may find out that they would react badly to certain drugs, which could be life saving! The problem comes when there might be false information – science is constantly changing and information could sometimes be misinterpreted. I heard a case that someone’s DNA result says he will have a terrible genetic disease in early adulthood, but he refused to believe it, did a load of reading on the subject, and eventually found that the company’s calculation for the risk for that particular disease was incorrect. This kind of event could cause false alarm and stress.

    • Photo: Matthew Moore

      Matthew Moore answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      I would love to! I might even store some in freezer so they can clone me centuries from now. Definitely against all lab safety protocol though…

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