Genius Genetics

Could your child be the next Sim Wong Hoo, Stefanie Sun or S. Jayakumar? What if you could take the guesswork out of predicting Junior’s future?

In a trend that takes parenting to a new level of competition, scientists are saying that a simple mouth swab today could help you identify your kid’s genetic gifts in a month’s time, or less. The shortcut to understanding your child better means precious time – and money – could be saved, its advocates argue.

A programme that uses DNA testing is slowly gaining popularity around the world. Close to 1,000 people in Singapore have apparently taken the genetic talent test since it was available in February last year, according to a service provider called Map My Gene.

For $1,980, the scientific results pinpoint your child’s strengths and weaknesses in 40 areas, including IQ, EQ, memory as well as artistic and athletic abilities. It can even help project careers down the road, with recommendations from psychologists.

Map My Gene currently offers the test through some 10 partners – mainly learning centres and clinics – and plans to get 25 more partners in the next six months.

Meanwhile, music school Magic Fiddler is launching the service in January. Its students pay $2,800 for the DNA test plus 12 weekly classes, or $1,800 for the test only. The steps for the tests are similar: A swab is taken from inside the child’s cheek to obtain sufficient DNA. Sealed in a sterile bag, Magic Fiddler sends the sample to a laboratory in China for analysis. (Map My Gene would only say its labs are in Asia.)

Franck Wong, marketing director at Map My Gene, claims that such DNA profiles – traditionally used by doctors to identify genetic diseases – have revolutionised parenting. “There’s no single, successful method of parenting. But we can make use of science to help parents understand the child better and foster a closer bond,” he shares.

Franck recalled his meeting with a mum who cried when she received her son’s DNA results. She finally understood why he couldn’t excel in golf and other sports like his elder brother, no matter how hard she pushed him. “His DNA showed that he wasn’t born to be a sportsman, and his strength was really elsewhere. From that day, she stopped comparing him with his brother and cut him some slack,” he says.

The results also come in handy when you’re deciding on enrichment courses for your kid, adds Franck. For instance, Junior may not have the musical genes, but a genetic propensity for thinking and memory. So, why not put your money in a maths holiday camp rather than a piano class?

While critics generally do not doubt the accuracy of genetic talent testing, most express scepticism about its usefulness. “Maybe this testing is really powerful, but I’m not sufficiently convinced I want my children to do it,” says academic associate Serene Chen, 35. She has two daughters – Ella, three, and Naomi, five months.

“Many times, a mother instinctively knows why a child is making a fuss over something no one else can make out. What that comes down to is spending so much time with each other that you figure each other out. And isn’t the time spent together what’s so special?”

Read the January 2010 issue of Young Parents for the full story, which includes a mum’s account of why she spent $10,000 to get her kids’ DNA tested.