Consumers turn to DNA for answers

For years, Art Thomas sifted through the stories and rumors traded among relatives and he wondered: Exactly where did I come from?

Last fall, Thomas, a retired information technology manager in Springfield, Ohio, turned to his body for answers. He scraped a cell sample from inside his cheek, mailed the swab to a test lab and waited for science to supplement his extensive genealogical research.

Thomas' quest to unlock the secrets of his own DNA is far from a solitary one. A small, but fast-growing number of consumers are paying for a proliferation of partly self-administered genetic tests, hoping to determine everything from paternity to their propensity to develop certain diseases to their own ancestry.

Some health-related tests have stirred skepticism among doctors and geneticists concerned about their validity and consumers' ability to interpret the results. But more consumers are proceeding with such tests to satisfy their curiosity, and marketers are responding.

Discount retailer Target Corp. now sells DNA collection and profile kits online. Some specialty drug stores have begun stocking DNA-based nutritional tests. Ancestry tests have taken on new prominence with a project by the National Geographic Society encouraging people to explore "the ultimate human history, as written in our genes."

The increased marketing of self-administered DNA testing is most evident on the Internet, where numerous companies offer an array of products. It's hard to know how many consumers are taking these companies up on their offers, but public interest is clearly growing, observers say.

"People are curious," said Kelly Ormond, an associate professor at Northwestern University and immediate past president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. "I think, in general, many people take the approach that if I could know about my health or something in my family, I'd like to know."

The many tests available serve very different purposes. But some observers see a commonality in their appeal, finding an audience with consumers who have gradually come to see genetics as less overwhelming and potentially useful.

There "has been an increasing expectation of what this technology would be able to deliver," said Rosalynn Gill-Garrison, a co-founder and chief science officer for Sciona Inc., a Boulder, Colo., company that sells a line of tests designed to help people match their diet with their genetic predisposition. "Now, have we met all those expectations? I don't think so. But certainly people are very interested in wanting to use this technology to learn more about themselves."