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Sporty With a Sweet Tooth?

A handful of companies have sprouted up that say they can use genetics to predict what a couple's child would be like, Wired reports.

For instance, it says that HumanCode has its $259 BabyGlimpse test that tests a couple's DNA to gauge whether what color hair or eyes their child might have or whether the kid might have a sweet tooth. Similarly, Orig3n's Child Development test looks at the child's DNA itself to determine whether he or she will develop a nut allergy or be good at sports.

According to Wired, HumanCode's Jennifer Lescallet has called what her company does "sunshine science" when speaking to the Baltimore Sun.

But Wired notes that even seemingly benign tests could have unforeseen implications. Learning early on that a kid might not have an aptitude for math could make a parent not press that child to do better in algebra class, it says.

"[W]e still don't understand very well the unintended consequences of labeling people," Muin Khoury, the director of the Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells Wired. "Once you think you know certain information, it'll affect how you think about your baby for life."

The Scan

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Suicidal Ideation-Linked Loci Identified Using Million Veteran Program Data

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