Spend thousands of dollars to test children's talents? Professionals: Consumer traps with high-tech gimmicks

According to the Workers' Daily (Liu Xu), the popularity of talent genetic testing is rising, and many businesses have launched related services. Some professionals pointed out that many testing institutions do not have testing capabilities, and the so-called testing is just a commercial project covered with a "scientific coat".

"I want to discover my son's talent early so that I can cultivate him more specifically." On September 14, Wang Minghao got the talent test report for his 4-year-old son who spent 1980 yuan. Open the 14-page report, which contains a large number of data and tables, quantifying learning ability, memory ability, stress resistance, language potential, communication potential, motor potential, etc. in detail.

Wang Minghao told reporters that half a month ago, he placed an order for a 4 talent potential testing project of IQ, EQ, sports and art at a biological flagship store on an e-commerce platform. Three days later, he received a sampling kit from the testing agency, and collected his son's oral saliva cell DNA according to the instructions and sent it to the testing agency. More than 10 days later, I received this beautifully crafted test report.

Recently, the popularity of talent genetic testing has risen in the market, and some businesses have launched related services. However, the reporter learned that some inspection agencies are suspected of concept hype to expand the correlation analysis between genes and talent, and some professionals pointed out that this is a consumer trap with high-tech gimmicks.

The price of each order ranges from 400 yuan to 10,000 yuan

On some e-commerce platforms, the price of talent genetic testing business ranges from 400 yuan to 10,000 yuan per order. The price difference corresponds to the difference in the content and form of the test, and the high price includes 40 natural ability tests in 8 categories: language, music, logical thinking, body movement, visual space, interpersonal socialization, natural exploration, and self-awareness. Some merchants also indicate that the suitable test group is children aged 0~12. Others claim that they can be mailed to overseas laboratories for testing, and the database is even larger.

Gao Zijian, an operator of a medical laboratory in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, told reporters that the genotype test is actually an analysis of 33 subtypes of 11 genes in 5 categories, and by looking for gene loci, comparing a large number of real cases in the database, and identifying children.

Can these inspection agencies really measure a child's talent? Gao Zijian bluntly said that statistical research based on a specific population sample can only derive statistical correlation rather than causation. "In other words, if you don't have the same locus, you have the same talent as a successful person in a database." In addition, "almost all gifted genetic testing institutions cannot solve the problem of sample size, and the testing institutions on the market can only search for papers of varying quality, and if there is the slightest possibility, they will think that the correspondence between the site and the talent is considered." ”

The reporter browsed a number of e-commerce platform talent testing related stores and found that these stores displayed the practice license of medical institutions, and there was no employee qualification, project qualification, reagent qualification and other certificates. Some businesses also said that the talent genetic testing service does not have project qualifications because it is still an emerging industry, the technical threshold is high, and ordinary institutions cannot do it.

Parents want to find a "shortcut" to cultivation through testing

Wang Minghao is convinced of the talent genetic test, and he feels that the test results are basically consistent with his daily observation of his son. "The report shows that my son's language expression and interpersonal skills are outstanding, and I am ready to enroll him in an eloquence class to make the 'longboard' longer."

Wang Minghao's practice of "precise" training of children represents the psychology of many parents: "The golden cultivation period of children is so many years, no one is willing to keep trial and error, and then a sports seedling, if you are barely learning to draw for a few years, parents and children are painful." ”

Unlike Wang Minghao's test, Li Mo did a skin streak test for his 3-year-old daughter, which was a gift project for an English class.

"The inspector drew a few dots on the palm of his hand, then took a palm and a picture of his face, and a month later came out with a 14-page report." Li Mo said that the report has a total table of innate brain data, learning potential TRC, learning pathways, personality types, etc., as well as innate multiple intelligences and career suggestions, and finally a suggestion table for interest classes.

Although Li Mo was half-convinced of the test results, he suffered from the lack of a better and more scientific training plan, and only wanted to refer to the data as a dimension to judge the child's talent.

Li Xiaoli, deputy chief physician of the Department of Clinical Genetics of a tertiary hospital in Shenyang, said that many current diseases can find the cause of genetics, through genetic screening, some babies with hereditary diseases and congenital diseases can also be avoided, and even many common chronic diseases can also find the root cause genetically, and prevent, diagnose and treat through genetic intervention. However, many testing institutions on the market do not have testing capabilities, but commercial projects are cloaked in a "scientific coat".

The customer service of a biological flagship store specializing in talent testing told reporters that the institution will specially write a special note on the first page of the report, "The results are not good or bad, cannot predict the future fate, do not label, do not compare with each other." The result is only a reference, not a final conclusion, and success is inseparable from the acquired efforts." Despite this, there are still parents who repeatedly consult whether they can help choose interest classes, whether they can find the best learning methods, and whether they can analyze the dominant subjects.

Genetic sequencing makes it difficult to detect IQ talent

In fact, which genes determine human talent and how to determine it cannot be accurately answered with the current level of science and technology. Li Xiaoli said, for example, IQ is closely related to genes, but IQ is determined by thousands of genes, and from the perspective of gene sequencing, it is difficult to detect a child's IQ talent. Conversely, a genetic mutation that causes a low IQ is completely detectable, such as tuberous sclerosis, but this is the medical application of genetic testing.

"Some current genetic testing programs, such as testing children's intellectual curiosity, memory, stress resistance, and ability to learn lessons, are based on conjecture and arbitrariness, which itself runs counter to the spirit of science." Gao Zijian said that it is just that parents are overprotective of their children and only think about how to arrange their children's lives.

"Not to mention whether training according to the report can be successful and become talents, just training according to the 'manual' will also make children lose a lot of fun and grinding." Gao Zijian believes that relevant departments should strengthen the supervision of the application of new technologies, timely evaluate and distinguish which are definitive results and which are still in the testing and research stage. For the former, relevant standards should be formulated to regulate its development. In view of the latter, it should be strictly prohibited from entering the market to maintain a healthy and orderly market environment.