I wish it was easier to get a full genetic sequence done, along with constitutional caryotype. I mean, if there is something wrong with me on such a fundamental level, I'd like to know.
Apparently though, it's not as easy as just making a sample and sending it to a lab. Companies like 23andme for instance are not allowed to report serious genetic or chromosomal anomalies. They mostly provide geographic ancestry analysis, which IMHO isn't worth shit.
If you want to have a genetic analysis done, you need the approval of a doctor. You need to suffer from a pathologic condition of some kind to justify it. And you need to have ruled out any other possible explanation.
I get the rationale. If you were told for instance that you will probably not succeed in school, you may decide not to even try or you may not find the courage to study hard. Inversely, if you are told that you will likely succeed, you may become overconfident and lazy, up to the point you may actually fail, because you didn't study hard enough. It's like knowing too much about our biological constitution can prevent us from realizing our maximum potential as a human being.
A mirror tells you something about you : it tells you what you look like. It improves the knowledge you can have about yourself. As such, it's a metaphor for any tool that can be used to follow the old maxim "know thyself".
In that sense, can't it be said that genome sequencing is a forbidden mirror ?
Apparently though, it's not as easy as just making a sample and sending it to a lab. Companies like 23andme for instance are not allowed to report serious genetic or chromosomal anomalies. They mostly provide geographic ancestry analysis, which IMHO isn't worth shit.
If you want to have a genetic analysis done, you need the approval of a doctor. You need to suffer from a pathologic condition of some kind to justify it. And you need to have ruled out any other possible explanation.
I get the rationale. If you were told for instance that you will probably not succeed in school, you may decide not to even try or you may not find the courage to study hard. Inversely, if you are told that you will likely succeed, you may become overconfident and lazy, up to the point you may actually fail, because you didn't study hard enough. It's like knowing too much about our biological constitution can prevent us from realizing our maximum potential as a human being.
A mirror tells you something about you : it tells you what you look like. It improves the knowledge you can have about yourself. As such, it's a metaphor for any tool that can be used to follow the old maxim "know thyself".
In that sense, can't it be said that genome sequencing is a forbidden mirror ?
