Posted on 12/25/2019 11:04:38 AM PST by yesthatjallen
The Pentagon is warning military members against using consumer mail-in DNA tests over potential risks, a Department of Defense spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.
The Department of Defense is advising service members to instead receive DNA result information from a “licensed professional," spokeswoman Elissa Smith said.
“We want to ensure all service members are aware of the risks of Direct to Consumer (DTC) genetic testing,” Smith said. “The unintentional discovery of markers that may affect readiness could affect a service member's career, and the information from DTC genetic testing may disclose this information.”
She added that the information provided by private companies “may or may not” be reliable results.
Such DNA kits are sold by companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry and have become popular holiday gifts in recent years.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
“These [direct-to-consumer] genetic tests are largely unregulated and could expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission,” the memo continues.
If the concern is with diagnosis then there is either nothing to worry about OR the companies are likely breaking the law.
Diagnosis would fall under the regulatory purview of the FDA as a medical device. A quick survey of the FDA registration database doesn’t bring up any of the consumer related tests. They may indicate potential, but don’t provide diagnosis....if they claim diagnosis and aren’t registering then they are breaking the law.
Wouldn’t the military want to know if there are reliable markers that could affect readiness???
Other lives depend on that individual, not just that person’s career.
And this is a part of the DoD’s mission to defend the nation because of...?
The military has taken DNA samples from all military personnel for YEARS, and they are (or were) generally stored at a command in Hawaii.
I would imagine those records are what were also used to identify remains found in Viet Nam and Korea, etc
It is nothing new
So.
Direct to Consumer testing is unreliable.
We will use Direct to Consumer testing results against you.
Sounds like the Brass.
yeah. We will never have another “Unknown Soldier” if even a scrap of the person is left....
So why are the risks higher for military than for others?
Not only that. IMHO, I think some of them are jokes. I’ve seen several ads on TV, such as the person who KNEW thru family records that he was of German extraction, right down to the liederhosen; but the DTC outfit told him he’s Scottish. So he bought their story, ditched all his family history and bought a kilt....and prolly a bagpipe, too. P.T. Barnum surely had HIM pegged.
No voluntary genetic testing.
No Alexa or Ask Google.
No Facebook.
Mic and lenses covered on (not phone) smart devices.
Curtains/blinds on windows, often drawn.
That is good news for anyone sending a loved one into harm’s way.
More than likely the upper echelon is afraid one of the lowly enlisted will find out that their baby belongs to someone else. The military rarely does anything out of the goodness of their hearts.
I know, they have had my DNA for years. The question is what they are doing acting like some busy body treating military members like that they ignorant little children who need supervision for every minute of their lives. It’s none of their business.
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