The availability of affordable, direct-to-consumer genetic tests has mushroomed, leaving regulation lagging behind. Dozens of companies now offer inexpensive home kits that allow people to spit into tubes, send the samples for DNA analysis and receive a report that allegedly details their ancestry or their possible susceptibility to a long list of disorders that have been linked - often tenuously - to particular genes. But the value of these tests remains debatable, which is why the industry needs a strong set of quality standards and codes of conduct to protect both its consumers and its own credibility.
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