Gizmodo writes that even as consumer DNA testing has become mainstream, "it's not much less scammy than it was when the decade started."
It takes a look at the industry as part of series looking back over the past 10 years and ahead to the next decade. In 2010, Gizmodo notes that a US Government Accountability Office called out consumer genetic testing services for misleading the public and that the Food and Drug Administration warned 23andMe and other firms that it considered genetic health tests to be medical devices that needed FDA clearance. It sent a letter to 23andMe in 2013, barring it from selling its health-related tests. The firm began re-introducing those tests a few years later.
But as consumer DNA testing has become more commonplace, Gizmodo argues that some of the tests on offer are "laughable" as they purport to determine whether someone may be good at soccer or the best diet for someone to follow. Even tests that may indeed be able to gauge whether someone is at increased risk of a developing certain conditions may not work for all populations. Additionally, Gizmodo says that though someone could find out through genetic testing they are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, they'd get the same advice everybody else is given: to eat right and exercise.