ELK GROVE, USA October 11, 2016 – Leading e-commerce DNA testing company has its genetic predisposition test featured on Ici Radio-Canada, receiving overall positive ratings.
Ici Radio-Canada’s Science and Health Journalist Alain Labelle investigates 3 DNA testing companies that offer genetic health testing in Canada, providing an unbiased view of the companies’ service. This test highlights an individual’s genetic susceptibility to various cancers, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular conditions as well as diseases of old age. The 3 companies, AccuMetrics/Viaguard, EasyDNA et 23andMe, were mystery shopped and rated in the following main areas: result turnaround time, the number of diseases tested and the results. Commenting on the article, an EasyDNA representative states that “EasyDNA faired particularly well. We test for a comprehensive number of diseases which is much higher than some our competitors and provide a better customer experience.”
Labelle’s featured article hones into the accuracy of such tests, the potential implications of these home test results and whether people carrying out such tests can derive anything meaningful from them. Genetic health tests have drawn criticism from some proponents who claim these tests need more research and should not be sold directly to consumers who do not understand the significance of their results. On this point, EasyDNA notes that “the test does have its limitations but is well received by our clients. It has been instrumental in helping people discover they had diseases in their family that they had no awareness of and take better control over certain aspects of their genetic health. Moreover, we insist our clients seek the supervision of a genetic counsellor when doing taking our test.”
Asked to comment on the only negative score the company received, which was in relation to its very long turnaround time for the test results, the company note “Ici-Radio Canada happened to mystery shop our test during a period when we were upgrading it to include more diseases and streamlining our administrative procedure for genetic health testing. This caused a delay in the results. Now, our test results take no longer than 3-4 weeks.”
Labelle’s article entitled Les tests génétiques en vente libre sont-ils fiables? can be viewed by clicking here.
