In a turnaround for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency has announced it will "allow a company to sell genetic tests for disease risk directly to consumers," according to the New York Times. 23andMe, a private genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California, pioneered products to allow customers to learn about their genome without the involvement of a doctor, genetic counselor or other health care professional. There are two levels of test offered; the default will only include the gene variants that could lead to the development of 10 rare conditions such as factor XI deficiency, Gaucher disease type 1 and celiac disease. For the genes associated with illnesses such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, there is a separate track that includes access to genetic counselors. An attempt by 23andMe to offer similar direct-to-consumer tests in 2013 was quashed by the FDA because of concerns about how patients might misinterprete potentially bad news without professional guidance. However, according to Dr. Robert C. Green, a Consortium collaborator who has researched the matter, studies since then have "there is some potential for distress, but it is much, much smaller than was anticipated.” Read the entire article here.