At the University of Stanford, one student discovered the man he thought was his father wasn't his biological father after studying his own DNA in a science class, The Mercury News reported.
Stanford's School of Medicine is offering a trailblazing course, Genetics 210, which allows students to study their own DNA in order to predict future illness and, in some cases, prevent them.
Angelina Jolie, who published an op-ed in the New York Times, took preventative measures in getting a double mastectomy to heavily reduce her risk of hereditary breast cancer. With this course, the Stanford School of Medicine looks to be at the forefront of this growing trend in modern medicine.
"We are preparing them to do cutting-edge biomedicine," Stuart Kim, a professor of developmental biology and genetics who co-founded the course told the Mercury News. "These are future scientists who need to understand the underlying concepts behind this exploding field."
Testing is voluntary and confidential and students who wish to take the course, but do not want to study their own DNA, do not have to. Public reference sequences are made available by 23andMe, a Mountainview Company that processes the DNA samples for the course.
"Trying to use my own genetic information as a learning tool -- that sounded like something I wanted," bioscience graduate student Thomas Roos, 28, told the Mercury News.
Discussion is a key part of the course, as students will talk about trends and surprises. Data analysis and interpretation, not the data itself, sometimes causes heated classroom debates, the Mercury News reported.
Unlike Joile's case, some discoveries pose serious concerns. Genes like LRRK2, a predictor of Parkinson's disease, and the apolipoprotein E gene that increases the risk of Alzheimer's, do not have a known cure.
One medical student disclosed to Kim that he discovered that the alcoholic uneducated man married to his mother was not his actual father, reported the Mercury News. His real father was a doctor.
"He was amazingly okay with this," Kim told the Mercury News.
As the course gains popularity at Stanford, other schools have already adopted it. According to the Mercury News, 23andMe offer a discount on testing and materials to universities.
"We are in the perfect place and the perfect time for this type of educational approach," Dr. Charles Prober, Stanford's senior associate dean for medical education told the Mercury News. "It is critical for our students to develop a deep, rich understanding of the hope and the limitations of personal genomics."
