強大DNA檢測 幫你瞭解自己的身體

A test to tell if you are at risk from Alzheimer’s disease and dozens of other conditions goes on sale in Britain today costing £125.

在英國，你只要花125英鎊（約合人民幣1210元）進行一個DNA檢測，就能知道自己患阿爾茲海默症（Alzheimer’s disease）或其他幾十種疾病的風險有多高。

The test uses a saliva sample to provide more than 100 pieces of genetic information including whether users are more likely than normal to suffer Parkinson’s, some cancers or baldness.

這項測試以唾液作爲樣本，可爲測試者提供100多種基因信息，包括患帕金森症（Parkinson’s）、脫髮或某些癌症的風險是否高於正常水平。

It can also predict whether they like coffee or hate Brussels sprouts, which type of exercise is likely to suit them best and give information about a person’s ancestry.

測試還能預知他們對食物的偏好，如愛喝咖啡或者不愛吃抱子甘藍，以及最適合的鍛鍊方式，也可以知曉某人的家族史。

The test, already available in the US, is being marketed online by 23andMe, a firm part-funded by Google. A customer spits into a tube, seals it and sends it back to 23andMe’s labs for analysis. Four to six weeks later, they receive a detailed report in the post written in everyday language.

目前，人們已經可在美國接受此測試，由谷歌公司部分出資的“23andMe”的公司也在進行網上銷售。顧客可以用小試管收集自己的唾液，把它密封好，然後寄到公司的實驗室進行分析。四至六週後，顧客便能收到簡單易懂的詳細測試報告。

It will tell them, for instance, whether their risk of Alzheimer’s disease is higher or lower than average. 23andMe – run by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin – says its ‘mission is to ensure that individuals can personally access, understand and benefit from the human genome’.

報告可以提供多種信息，比如顧客患阿爾茲海默症的風險是大還是小。23andMe公司老闆安．沃潔希奇(Anne Wojcicki)是谷歌的聯合創始人謝爾蓋·布爾 （Sergey Brin）的妻子。該公司表示，他們的使命是確保人人都能親身測試，並對人類基因組多些瞭解而且從中獲益。

It says that armed with the information, people can take better care of their health. For instance, the print-out may give someone the impetus they need to give up smoking or it could mean they undergo regular health checks so that an illness can be caught – and treated early.

公司還表示，通過檢測信息，人們可以更好地照顧自己身體。比如，報告可以爲測試者提供戒菸的動力，也可能促使他們定期接受健康檢查，儘早發現疾病並進行治療。

Genetic tests are already available in Britain but generally provide less information and are more expensive.

基因測試也已經在英國啓用，但一般提供的信息較少，而且費用更高昂。

However, critics say the science behind such analysis is not is not advanced enough to provide worthwhile results.

然而，有批評家指出，這項分析所運用的科學技術並不夠先進，不能提供有價值的結果。

This could lead to some people being falsely reassured, others worrying unnecessarily or facing higher insurance premiums and the NHS being put under added pressure.

一些人可能會輕易消除對疾病的隱憂，另一些人可能會面臨不必要的擔心或承擔更高額的保險，而英國國民健康保險制度（NHS）也將面臨更大壓力

The firm has been banned from providing some information from the tests to customers in the US over fears it would lead to people seeking out treatment they do not need.

美國禁止該公司向顧客透露某些測試結果，以防顧客盲目接受不必要的治療。

The US health watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration, was particularly concerned about information provided on one gene, BRCA, that raises the odds of breast and ovarian cancer.

美國食品和藥物管理局（the Food and Drug Administration）格外擔憂某些誇大乳腺癌或卵巢癌患病機率的信息，這些信息往往只分析了乳腺癌易感基因（BRCA）便輕易得出結果。

It said: ‘For instance, if the BRCA-related risk assessment for breast or ovarian cancer reports a false positive, it could lead a patient to undergo prophylactic surgery, chemoprevention, intensive screening, or other morbidity-inducing actions, while a false negative could result in a failure to recognise an actual risk that may exist.’

管理局的發言人說：“如果對乳腺癌或卵巢癌的風險評估結果是假陽性，患者便可能接受預防性手術、化學治療、頻繁檢查或有其他誘導疾病的行爲。而如果測試結果是假陰性，患者便意識不到實際風險的存在。

There are also concerns that someone told they have a higher risk of an incurable condition such as Alzheimer’s may take a fatalistic approach and stop looking after their health.

也有人擔心，一些人如果得知自己可能患有不治之症，比如阿爾茲海默症，這些人便會選擇聽天由命，放棄接受治療。

Professor Sally Hodgson, an expert in cancer genetics from St George’s Hospital in South London, said DNA analysis is ‘very open to misunderstanding’.

莎莉·霍奇森（Sally Hodgson）是倫敦南部聖喬治醫院（St George’s Hospital）癌症遺傳學方面的專家，她認爲，DNA測試也存在被誤解的可能。

She warned that the results could cause ‘undue and inappropriate anxiety’ and said that valuable NHS time could be taken up by people requesting further tests.

她認爲，測試結果或會造成“不必要和不適當的憂慮”，而人們對進一步測試的需求會佔用健康保險業的寶貴時間。