BANKING OF FAMILY DNA THE TIME HAS COME 
July 17, 2000

Henry T. Lynch, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Professor and Chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine Creighton University School of Medicine 

Banked family DNA can be of essential value, especially in situations where there is a concern about hereditary transmission of a disease. When a genetic disease, e.g. colon or breast cancer, is suspected of being transmitted in a family, the availability of DNA from affected family members is of paramount importance because it serves as reference DNA.

If and when the physician and genetic counselor indicate genetic testing, the reference DNA contains information which can establish if the disease has been transmitted. When an affected family member is no longer alive, the availability of their banked DNA fulfills the crucial need for reference DNA.

While genetic testing is often done without reference DNA, as in the relatively simple case of the cystic fibrosis gene, more complicated genetic detection becomes plausible only when the reference DNA is accessible.

In such cases, negative genetic test results can be declared true and definite ONLY when there are no identical structural relationships between the gene of the affected family member and the correlating piece of DNA belonging to the at-risk living family member.

DNA extraction and proper storage should be left only to DNA banking companies that have received clearance by the FDA, and laboratories that are certified (CLIA approved). In addition, such DNA banks need to guarantee mechanisms that ensure quantifiably sufficient results and confidentiality.

This decade will see the completion of the human genome project, a great increase in the number of genetic tests, the placement of DNA gene chip readers in physicians' offices, and an increase in the number of pharmogenetic drugs that target specific diseases.

Banking of family DNA will play a pivotal role in this new era of modern medicine. Simply, the availability of banked DNA will allow the physician to move from Diagnosis and Prognosis to Prediction and Prevention.

SOURCE:GeneLink BioSciences, Inc.