An MIT graduate has turned her closet into a mini laboratory and is performing DNA testing at home.  She is proposing that home DNA test kits be offered so that others may do the same.

Katherine Aull is a former research associate for a biotech company that didn’t make it.  Members of her family have suffered from an easily treated condition called hemochromatosis.  The condition stems from a gene mutation that creates too much iron in the blood.  The condition is easily treatable if found early enough by having blood drawn regularly.

According to the Boston Globe, this discovery led Ms. Aull to create her own home DNA test using common kitchen supplies and parts off of EBay.  All together her setup cost about $1,000.

She has tested her own blood and found that she has the same mutation as her father and she inherited the same mutation from her mother.  Ms. Aull is running the tests a second time to verify her findings and will one day have the test run by a professional laboratory.

Even though she has the mutation, she may never actually develop hemochromatosis or if she does, it will be years down the road.  Her reason for testing her own DNA was so that she would recognize signs that she was developing the illness.

Ms. Aull says that some DNA testing is simple and doesn’t require any hazardous chemicals.   Her philosophy is that anything that her cats might get into is out of the question so her testing setup is cat/idiot proof.

The idea of doing home DNA testing is intriguing and frightening at the same time.  Checking yourself for gene mutations that might prove that you have Huntington’s disease for example could provide devastating information that a genetic counselor could lead you through.

Home DNA testing for paternity is another example of possible dangerous outcomes.  If tests showed that your husband or boyfriend was not the father of your child, the damage could be enormous emotionally, psychologically and financially for everyone involved.

Home DNA test kits may one day grace drug store shelves next to the home drug test kits and pregnancy test kits, but this could be one kit to stay away from, unless you are truly brave.

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 9:21 am under Science and technology.

Read more entries by Susan Wilson.
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