Skip to content

U.s. Introduces New Dna Standard For Ensuring Accuracy Of Genetic Tests

WASHINGTON — The federal government opened the door to a new era of genetic medicine on Thursday by introducing a standard way to ensure the accuracy of DNA tests used to tailor treatments for individual patients.

Scientists have identified hundreds of genetic mutations that appear to increase the risk of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and cystic fibrosis. But laboratories often report different results when they analyze genes obtained from samples of the same blood or tissue, because of variations in their testing equipment and methods.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Thursday that it had developed “reference materials” that could be used by laboratories to determine whether their machines and software were properly analyzing a person’s genetic blueprint, or genome.

Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

Blood tests can be analyzed in a lab at Guardant Health. The tests are called “liquid biopsies.”Sidestepping the Biopsy With New Tools to Spot CancerAPRIL 7, 2014
When doctors got a clean blood DNA test from MarySusan Sabini, they were afraid to rely on it because the test was so new.New Blood Test Shows Promise in Cancer FightAPRIL 19, 2015
The institute disseminates such reference materials for thousands of products…

Originally posted on The New York Times

Read @ The New York Times