If You Paid $500 for a Gene Test, Would You Know What to Do With It?

DNA4Life offers a $249 test to help customers understand whether their genes put them at risk of having bad reactions to more than 100 common medicines. Interleukin Genetics sells a $169 test that “may help you lose more weight by properly matching diet and exercise plans” to genetic profiles. And DNA-CardioCheck has suggested its test, at $450, is a "reliable method to determine whether or not you might be at risk for developing blood clots which might result in cardiovascular disease."

All three companies got letters from the Food and Drug Administration in early November suggesting they didn’t have the proper clearance to sell medical tests to consumers. It’s the latest sign that regulators are concerned about how companies market DNA tests for health insights, sometimes bypassing doctors entirely.