Pros at Prose: DTC Poetry Slam

Posted by Jillian Theil January 13, 2011
Biopolitical Times
Myraqa, a consulting firm that advises on In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) regulation, recently featured a “DTC Poetry Slam” on its blog. The “Slam” was a five-part post with poetry inspired by the greats, from Longfellow to Dr. Seuss.  Following 23andMe’s announcement of their personalized medicine themed poetry contest, the employees at Myraqa went to work crafting poems that raised questions about DTC genetic testing, using art to get readers thinking more critically about direct-to-consumer genetic testing.

Check out their gems here.

And now a few limericks from our own in-house bard, Pete Shanks:

Ignorance is Bliss

Mother, said daughter, now I'm an adult
There's a test that I'd like to consult
But if it says that your syndrome
Is based on your genome
I don't want to know the result

Looking Forward

A middle-aged man with a beard
Had a father who seemed a bit weird
So he decided to test
If his genes were the best
Alas, they were just as he feared

Natural History

Darwin got into phylogeny
Through studying natural homogeny
But he'd never seen
Or heard of a gene
He left that to his progeny's progeny


Update:
Another DTC poem by Helen Wallace at GeneWatch UK was recently brought to our attention. Click here for more vibrant verse.