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To explore the reasons why people would consider using commercially available, internet-based Personal Genome Testing (PGT) and how they would use the resulting genetic risk information.   

A self-completion questionnaire was completed by 4,050 adult volunteers from the UK-based TwinsUK register, aged 17 to 91. Firstly, subjects were asked if they were aware of such PGT services. Then they were asked to indicate how likely they would be to order such a test if the service cost £250 or was free. Respondents were then asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with a list of reasons to have a personal genome test.  

The level of awareness of the service was low, with only 1 in 8 respondents having heard of the existence of PGT. Only 5% of study participants were potentially interested in PGT at current prices, but this increased to 50% for free tests. 93% said they would take the test to encourage them to adopt a healthier lifestyle if found to be at high genetic risk of a disease. 80% would consider testing to obtain the genetic risk information for their children, and a similar number felt that it would help their doctors to better monitor their health.  

The study suggests that increased awareness and lower costs of PGT might lead to a significantly increased interest from the general public, driven mainly by the desire to improve health monitoring and assessment. The results suggest that health professionals will be increasingly required to respond to individuals who have undergone PGT, which has implications for health service providers regarding both cost and time.  

Although it gives an interesting picture of current public interest in Personal Genetic Testing, it is only a hypothetical study. At present, it is difficult to precisely assess the future extent of the clinical utility of PGT. It is also important to note that PGT differs from clinical genetic testing as PGT focuses on complex, often unexplored, diseases and traits, resulting in low predictive values. Moreover, the study participants (volunteers from a twin-based cohort) might not reflect the views of the general population.