Why Anti-vax Doctors Are Ordering 23andMe Tests
Naturopaths have long been obsessed with a gene called MTHFR. Now vaccine skeptics are testing for it too.
David Reif, now a biologist at NC State, realized his old paper had taken on a dangerous second life when he saw it cited—not in the scientific literature, but in a court case.
The paper was titled “,” and it when a vaccine-skeptical doctor tried to argue that it explained her patient’s development delays. The was not persuaded, but Reif’s co-authors began hearing of yet other doctors using DNA tests to exempt patients from vaccines. Just this month, a doctor accused of giving illegal medical exemptions from vaccination, based on “two 30-minute visits and a 23andMe DNA test.” On anti-vaccine blogs and websites, activists have been sharing step-by-step.
