Not the full article just the informative part.
The full version was published at SCIENCE VOL 319 22 FEBRUARY 2008 by JENNIFER COUZIN
Who will take this test? Not me.
Once Shunned, Test for Alzheimer’s Risk Headed to Market
A Pennsylvania company is preparing to market
a genetic test that will tell healthy people
whether they are at increased risk for developing
Alzheimer’s disease. The move comes
more than 15 years after the critical gene,
APOE, was linked to Alzheimer’s, and it is getting
a mixed response from researchers. Some
of them point out that the test could upset people
without giving any therapeutic benefit. On
the other hand, as the company says, the information
has its uses, and research has shown
that receiving a bad result is not as devastating
as once feared.
The test will be offered by Smart Genetics
in Philadelphia, likely starting next month. For
$399, healthy people will give a saliva sample
and learn whether they have a risk of
Alzheimer’s that’s 3 to 15 times higher than
normal. The analysis is based on variations in
the APOEgene, which is widely agreed to play
a role in Alzheimer’s risk and heart disease.
The test differs from many other gene
tests for common adult diseases. For one,
the science behind it is solid. And the psychological
ramifications are under study:
REVEAL, a large clinical trial funded by
the U.S. National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland, has been examining
how healthy people react to learning their
APOE genotype and how best to communicate
this potentially explosive information.
Smart Genetics executives say that they’re
building on the f indings. They plan to
screen out those who seem emotionally
unstable and provide a genetic counseling
session by telephone before giving out
APOE results.
Until now, the only company offering an
APOE gene test has been Athena Diagnostics
in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the only
patients who qualify for testing have been
those with dementia. Athena licensed rights to
the gene patent from Duke University, where
Roses made the APOE discovery in 1992.
Smart Genetics has in turn licensed rights to
the test from Athena. |
