In the future, may we all have the option to get a double mastectomy. Or, rather, its equivalent for whatever cancer each of us are genetically predisposed to.

Colonoscopies might beat out root canals as the most reviled commonplace medical procedure that many of us might expect to undergo. Nevertheless, the uncomfortable undertaking is currently one of the best ways to detect early signs of colorectal cancer, a disease that more than 142,000 Americans are diagnosed with each year—and one that kills more [...]

Whether you have questions about your ancestry, earwax or Alzheimer’s risk, a recent slew of genetic tests promise to give you highly personal answers. Since this summer, however, the U.S. government has been taking a closer look at establishing standards of availability—and accuracy—for direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests. Some 90 percent of these tests have not [...]

Earlier this year, consumers were close to being able to pick up a saliva-based genetic test for disease risk the next time they ran to the drug store for aspirin or sunscreen. But even though the tests are still available for purchase online, consumers, geneticists and other groups quickly started to ask questions about the [...]

As store-based distribution of genetic health tests remains stalled pending federal review, genetic ancestry tests are also drawing widespread concern from experts. A task force report commissioned by the American Society for Human Genetics and led by Charmaine Royal of the Institute for Genomic Sciences & Policy at Duke University has called for better research [...]

Somewhere deep in my grandmother’s veins, a blood clot breaks free. Her blood carries the clot past her heart, to her lungs, where it becomes stuck in a pulmonary artery. This is when my grandmother feels a sudden sting in her chest and loses her breath. She is suffering a pulmonary embolism. My grandmother is [...]