From WNYC-- Genetics and Disease

Features

The Antidote: DNA Secrets

Friday, October 25, 2013

By Paige Cowett : Assistant Producer, The Brian Lehrer Show / Mary Harris : Senior Producer, News

• Share
• Print
• Email

Play

00:00 / 00:00

ListenAddDownloadEmbed

Stream m3u

• Enlarge

  (Jennifer Hsu/WNYC)

At WNYC, we've been experimenting with new ways to tell stories about health. A couple of our stories are now hitting the airwaves:

- This American Life is broadcasting a radio diary we recorded this summer with a woman named Kelly, who was going through the genetic screening process for Huntington's Disease. When our producer Paige started following Kelly, we had no idea how her story would unfold - would she be positive, or negative? How would her relationship with her fiance change when she got her results? We were able to provide Kelly with her own recording equipment so she could roll tape during moments that are rarely recorded - including the moment she got the test results that would change her life. You can hear Kelly's story on This American Life on their Oct. 25th Broadcast "It Says So Right Here". That episode will air on November 2nd and 3rd on WNYC.


- On the Media broadcast a story about Ryan Kramer, a sperm donor baby (pictured at right, with his mom) who was able to track down his anonymous father by reverse engineering information in a public DNA database. Since Ryan proved this was actually possible, his story has become a kind of cautionary tale for geneticists and medical ethicists, who say he proves that our DNA may not be as private as we think it is.

Both stories are part of a health reporting project here at WNYC that we're calling "The Antidote." If you liked what you heard this weekend - you'll be able to download the whole pilot show here on October 26th, and let us know what you think in the comments section below. This pilot show includes Ryan and Kelly's story - among others. The theme: "DNA Secrets."

On October 31st at 1 PM ET, you can join our host Emma Keller at The Guardian's The Living Hour for a live chat with Dr. Bob Darnell - the head of the NY Genome Center. It was Dr. Darnell who convinced Emma that getting her genome sequenced would be less scary than she feared. You can hear more about Emma's trip to the Genome Center on New Tech City, where she discussed the growing push to genetically test more and more children for a wider array of diseases.