@JoannaM While the 23andMe tests give genetic information at a greater detail than we have ever had before, we’ve been doing ‘genetic’ testing for decades as we look back at disease incidences and phenotypes of our parents and grand-parents – heart trouble, obesity, diabetes, MS (as @graiffiin points out), and so on. In many cases more direct information is helpful, but in many other cases, you won’t need a genetic test to tell you that you are carrying something.

Nonetheless, this is an awesome story about your family. Thanks for sharing. You all are pioneers and I trust that this story will be commonplace before we know it.

I know that when I first received my own information I was also excited and nervous at the same time. For the most part I was very interested to know more about myself not just medically speaking but also being able to understand some of my characteristics which partially came from my inherited genes, some of which I will have passed on to my daughters and my grandchildren.

Two traits were of particular importance to me and would therefore be of concern for my offspring. The first was the possibility of having the gene that would show a higher than average possibility of getting MS. My mother had the disease diagnosed in 1960 at the age of 49 and, despite all the best efforts of the medical services at Queens Hospital in London in the 1960s, she died in 1969. All our lives my sister and I had wondered if we might be more predisposed to get MS. In 1994 I had some problems with tingling in my arms and legs and was sure I had the start of MS. My main worry at that time was how to tell my children – their father had died 5 years before and I felt I would be letting them down if I should have the disease and pass on the likelihood of them getting MS. However, I did not have MS – apparently I was just getting too much medication for high blood pressure and it was soon resolved. My current gene profile shows that I am a lot less likely than the average person to get MS, and because of that I had felt a sense of relief. I now understand that new research could show that there may be another high risk gene which I may or may not have. Research is forever ongoing and so I will be looking for new information in my profile from time to time. My sister will not submit to the gene test but I did notice that she felt that some of my results, particularly the “good” ones, would relate to her!

The second trait and probably the one that has had the greatest impact on me was when I was calmly browsing through my gene profile and found that I had a much higher than average likelihood of getting age related macular degeneration. I’m pretty good about getting all the checkups one needs at my age (65) and was taken aback to realize that I had not had a proper eye exam for about 12 years. I immediately got an appointment with the ophthalmologist and was told that I did not have any symptoms (as yet) but that I should definitely be rechecked every year for that and for glaucoma. I mention this reaction to my data because I believe it has made me more proactive and involved in my own healthcare.

I did not see in the article whether or not my grandsons have this higher likelihood for age related macular degeneration and obviously I would prefer that they not. But they are young and hopefully research will find new cures which will be a matter of course when they grow older. Who knows maybe it will lead them to a career to find a cure for such problems – I do believe that knowing more will be of great benefit to them, personally in their lives, and for research in general. Their parents will use their good judgment in disseminating the information in their profile to them as they grow older.

On a less serious note I have to say that I smiled when my grandson suddenly felt a connection to his Grandpa on hearing that he had inherited his blue eyes and that his older brother wanted to look at his own profile in reference to “obesity!”

My grandsons have been born into a very interesting time.