2008 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2008. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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Will it be possible for doctors to be able to tell how long your life span will be, what diseases you may get and other things like that, before you're born?
     Colleen McBride, Ph.D.: Developing new interventions to promote changes in people's behavior in ways that will lower their risk of developing certain diseases. No, not with any certainty. Things like general health and life span are highly affected by how one lives their life, their health habits and the risks they take. What scientists may be able to do is to tell an individual about the chance they have of getting different kinds of health conditions if they take certain risks.
Alpharetta High School in GA (9th grade student)

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