Podcast: Guide to the New NIH Online Directory of Genetic Tests

If you need to order a genetic test, or (it could happen) if a patient hands you the result of such a test, would you know how to interpret the results? In this interview, Wendy Rubinstein, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health's new Genetic Testing Registry, tells why you need this online resource about genetic testing and related topics, and what's in the database for your reference.

After you listen, please consider taking the poll below. The NIH wants your opinion.

Dr Rubinstein is an internist and medical geneticist.

 The questions:

1. Why do primary care doctors need a genetic testing registry?
2. You've told us what it is. Please tell us what it is not.
3. Can anyone understand the information?
4. Are there any questions you'd like to ask of your listeners?

Resources:

NIH Gene Testing Registry

The newly launched Gene Testing Registry is a work in progress. For examples of complete results in each category, Dr. Rubinstein suggests trying out the following search terms:  Otochip (a test), Fabry's disease (a condition), and warfarin (a drug matched with pharmacogenetic biomarkers).