Paging Dr. Spaceman

Watching a “30 Rock ” rerun the other day got me thinking.

TV star Tracy Jordan was getting his DNA tested, for a paternity suit, I think, and he was asking his (clearly unqualified) doctor what he would learn.
 
Jordan: “Dr. Spaceman, when they check my DNA, will they tell me what diseases I might get, or help me to remember my ATM pin code?”

Dr. Spacemen: “Absolutely. Science is whatever we want it to be.”
 
That exchange was funny enough the first time I saw it, but now that I’m waiting on my own DNA test results, it hit me in a different way. People really don’t know what to expect from their DNA. Most people don’t really know what DNA is – I was pretty unclear myself until my boss asked me to have my DNA analyzed and write a story about it for the next issue of OMRF’s magazine, Findings.
 
Everybody I’ve talked to about the testing, be they friends or family, has been pretty fuzzy on the specifics of DNA. Here’s the best and most basic way I’ve heard it said:
 
Your DNA is a cookbook and all the recipes are for you. A little section here controls your hair. This code tells you how tall to grow. That one makes you more prone to weight gain.
 
After more than a decade of work, the human genome was decoded in 2003 and since then, scientists and researchers (like my co-workers at OMRF) have worked tirelessly to find out which genes make people more likely to develop cancer, or Huntington’s Disease or early on-set Alzheimer’s. And they use that information to find better treatments for those diseases.
 
We’re a month or so away from getting back the information about my DNA and I’m already antsy to find out what my genes say about me.

If you’ve got any questions or suggestions for my article about DNA testing, please post a comment. I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Until then, I’ll be desperately trying to remember my own ATM pin code. I wonder if Dr. Spaceman’s number is around here somewhere…