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“Nothing endures but change.”
—Heraclitus (540 BC to 480 BC)
Writing almost 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus noted change as a fundamental of life, and that is certainly true for clinical laboratory professionals working in the early years of the 21st century. A number of features in the current issue of CLP focus on products and services that aim to address recent change: the need for labs to operate more efficiently, testing options made possible by advances in biomedical research, and increasing demands by consumers to know more about their personal genetics and the health implications thereof.
Our cover story this month, “Genetic Lab Testing Identifies Disease and Disease Risk,” describes a number of new and recently available laboratory tests to detect the presence of—or genetic risk for—conditions ranging from inborn childhood diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, to those developed later in life, such as breast cancer. New on the scene are genetic testing services marketing directly to consumers, such as those offered by DNATraits, which provides DNA tests for dozens of individual disorders as well as panels geared toward persons of specific ethnicities. DNATraits accepts orders online and also makes available free genetic counseling to its customers.
Another change in the diagnostic industry is the move toward making more tests available to be run at the point of care. And not only are tests migrating to emergency departments and physician’s offices, but companies are also branching out into direct-to-consumer marketing. For example, Indianapolis-based Polymer Testing Systems, which manufactures rapid cholesterol tests, is placing its tests in the retail market, including pharmacies at CVS and Wal-Mart.
It is too early to determine what effect these types of services will have on how medicine is practiced or on physician-ordered testing, but the public’s desire to know more about their genetics—and their ability to gain information directly—will certainly have an impact on laboratory testing. I welcome your comments on this trend.
Please feel free to contact me at , and continue to send news releases to . I look forward to chatting with you about trends affecting the clinical lab industry and to meeting with as many of you as possible at CLMA next month. Please stop by our booth (#841) and say hello.
Suzanne Clancy
