Jump to full article: The Observer (uk), 2005-01-02
Author: Antony Barnett / The Observer
Intro: The discovery of a so-called 'smoker's gene' by a team of Oxford scientists paved the way for the launch of a DNA test kit last month - it costs £95 over the internet - that can identify who carries it. . . . .
But the kit, called NicoTest, is now under fire from other scientists who claim it is a waste of money and is potentially misleading and 'harmful to health'.
Genewatch, the campaign group, has complained to trading standards officers and is calling on the government to step in to regulate the sale of such tests and prevent them from being sold directly to the public. While the test is currently available only over the internet, G-Nostics plans to sell it through high-street pharmacies.
NicoTest is based on a discovery made by scientists led by Dr Robert Walton, of Oxford's clinical pharmacology department. It is claimed that variations of a gene known as the dopamine D2 receptor gene, or DRD2, reveals whether individuals are genetically programmed to be addicted to nicotine and shows how easily they can stop smoking. One in three people is born with the gene.
G-Nostics claims smokers with the gene are much more likely to benefit from nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) such as patches or gum than other treatments, such as the drug Zyban.
G-Nostics' website claims that up to four in 10 smokers with the smoker's gene can kick the habit with the correct NRT, far higher than the average success rate of one in 20.
Dr Helen Wallace, of Genewatch, with a number of other scientists, including a fellow academic of Walton at Oxford, have attacked the test as dangerous. An eight-page analysis of what they claim is the test's flawed science has been sent to the Trading Standards Service.
The group states that, although some studies have shown some interesting findings linking the dopamine gene and tobacco addiction, research is a long way from being proved.
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