NIH Creating Genetic Testing Registry

The National Institutes of Health is creating a genetic testing registry: a public database that researchers, consumers, healthcare providers and others can use to search for information submitted by genetic testing providers. The NIH says its aim is to improve access to information about the availability, validity and usefulness of the more than 1,600 genetic tests available to patients and consumers. Genomics Law Report's Dan Vorhaus says that since the registry is voluntary, that limits its usefulness as a regulatory tool, but he adds that "it has the potential to prove extremely valuable to personal genomics companies and consumers alike." DTC genetic testing company 23andMe has already indicated its willingness to participate in the project.
Blogger Daniel MacArthur writes at Genetic Future that the database will have the added benefit of "providing consumers with an easier way to distinguish between accurate, useful genetic tests and contemptible bottom-feeders."