Comments on: Singapore Company DNA Dynasty Will (Not) Tell Your Children’s Future

By: KathyF

KathyF — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:41:09 +0000

Okay, did you read the NY Times article on genetics yesterday?

I enjoyed it, and of course it agrees with you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11Genome-t.html?em

By: Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:25:15 +0000

Oops. Forgot to tell my 1st grader today that he’s brilliant. BAD MOMMY!! Maybe I will be less likely to forgot if I throw down a couple thousand dollars on a genetic test.

By: Sciphu

Sciphu — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:56:53 +0000

Wait…..I thought that was my kids….

And I believe that, – if you keep telling them that they are brilliant (as well as unique) you have done more good than millions of genetic tests.

By: Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:15:43 +0000

But of course, MY kids are the most talented and most intelligent kids who have ever walked the earth! (I don’t need a genetic test to tell me that…

By: Sciphu

Sciphu — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:59:26 +0000

Salvatore. What Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei (the doctor part comes from her PhD, so she has more right to call herself “doctor” than many physicians !!) points out is that the tests offered by this company does not meet neither the standards nor the expectations put forward by the researchers you are referring to. Scientific knowledge today is not able to support the claims that this company is making on their web-site and consequently Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei is in her full right to criticize them. You should be happy that someone with scientific expertise criticizes such marketing in order to stop people like yourself being fooled by hyping false hope from genetic tests-results.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:19:16 +0000

It’s funny that you posted this, since I was just thinking (and blogging) about the scientific misconceptions that can be propagated by science fiction. The idea that there is a simple genetic test for everything is high on my list of science that works in the movies but not real life.

So I wonder if DNA Dynasty ever tells parents that their child will be of below-average intelligence and has no aptitude for sports, music, or art. If they are trying to be successful fortune tellers, I suspect they always find something positive to say.

By: Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:02:44 +0000

Keep it up, people. I’m sure DNA Dynasty loves the free publicity from such erudite and articulate people such as yourselves.

By: Salvatore Huang

Salvatore Huang — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:27:13 +0000

Ms Hsien Hsien Lei, and you call yourself a “Doctor?” making iresponsible remarks like “will not and cannot’“kids (sic) innate talent” is via “DNA discovery.” …Your comments make Heavyweights like;
ROBERT PLOMIN, PhD
MRC Research Professor in Behavioral Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Director of Social, Genetic & Development Psychiatry Center- “32% – 62% of a person’s Success is influenced by his/her Genetic makeup.”
IAN CRAIG, PhD
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
EPIDEMIOLOGY IN NEUROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

“It is increasingly clear that there are deep-seated psychological, personal; and behavioral traits that are established at birth and are unaffected by environment“ – Thomas J. Bouchard and Colleagues Minnesota Center for Twin and Adaptive Research

“In addition to those traits that are clearly genetic, and distinct conditions and diseases for which the genetic origins have been discovered, it appears that we all have many traits that are genetically influenced in complicated ways that are not yet understood”- Thomas J. Bouchard

“We can dissect the essence of schizophrenia, bipolarism and autism to find out how the brain doesn’t work. The essence of schizophrenia is the brain can’t function. You are seeing the essence of stupidity. The same systems tweaked slightly the other way will be the essence of intelligence. We can find out why some people can play piano better than others—just a better brain, you have to be bright to play Rachmaninoff. .” – James Watson (Need I tell you who he is?)

Genome-wide linkage scan for loci of musical aptitude in Finnish families: evidence for a major locus at 4q22
K Pulli1, K Karma2, R Norio3, P Sistonen4, H H H Göring5, I Järvelä1,6
1 Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 2 Department of Music Education, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland 3 Department of Medical Genetics, Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki, Finland 4 Red Cross Finland Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland 5 Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, USA 6 Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland Correspondence to:Associate Professor I Järvelä, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki,
Conclusion: Our results show that there is a genetic contribution to musical aptitude that is likely to be regulated by several predisposing genes or variants. This implies that these rules have their basis in brain organisation rather than in culture. There’s so much more………

…Just in case you’re lost, Ms Hsien Hsien…you make all the above star researchers look like your students??????
Someone should sue you soon for making such inflammatory comments.
In the name of advancing Science, Ms Hsien, please do not ridicule your status anymore.

By: Suzie Lee

Suzie Lee — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:03:06 +0000

It worked for my kid. I think you’re just a sore loser Doc that you couldnt profit from the idea or be seen as the first to market the product successfully.

It could change the world and ensure that all parents discover the strengths in their child and channel it properly resulting in no child feeling that he is in capable or a failure.

Grow Up.. the point is to do whatever we can to make sure our future aka our children have a the brightest possible tomorrow and if that means something like DNA testing then whats wrong.

Maybe you should do proper research (www.23andme.com) and understand what amazing developments are happening.

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