Genetic testing: Do you really want to know?

PARIS (AFP) — Once impenetrable, the individual genetic code is becoming an open book thanks to kits that scan for genes linked to scores of traits and diseases, from bladder cancer and baldness to male infertility and memory loss.

A couple of hundred dollars, a few drops of saliva and a stamped envelope is all it takes to get a rundown on your inherited risk of around a hundred more-or-less common conditions. You can place your order by Internet.

Business is booming even as some experts raise red flags about the tests, challenging their accuracy and questioning the wisdom of satisfying the growing hunger for intimate genetic knowledge.

Leading the pack of start-ups is California-based 23andMe, which offers "to help others take a bold, informed step toward self-knowledge."

Rival deCODEme -- a subsidiary of Iceland firm deCODE -- promises "the discovery of your genetic propensity for developing specific diseases and conditions." Navigenics in Redwood Shores, California says it can "help you live healthier, longer."

The business is called personalised genomics, and it is only now starting to deliver on a long-heralded promise.