Abstract
ABSTRACT Despite their heightening popularity and potential individual and societal implications, little scientific attention has been given to the news coverage of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) kits (e.g. 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage). To accommodate, this study leverages the Analysis of Topic Model Networks to inductively develop a comprehensive overview of how major U.S. news media framed DTC-GT kits between 2009 and 2022, and then explicates the relationship of such coverage with kit sales between 2012 and 2019. We find four frames through which the news media talk about the kits: Utility, Scientific, Political-Economic, and Commercial. Further, as kit sales increase over time, news media maintain a strong emphasis on the utility of kits in their coverage, but also increasingly promote kits through product reviews. We find that this news coverage is influenced by―but does not influence―kit sales, and discuss implications pertaining to the DTC-GT industry and to biotechnology more broadly.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
