One of the schools best positioned to teach student doctors about the new technology appears to be the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which began using a laboratory exercise in genetic testing some 20 years ago. Today, in the schoolâ??s medical genetics class, students sample their own DNA by scraping cells from their cheeks. Instructors then test the studentsâ?? DNA and provide them with anonymous results to analyze. The test, developed at UW with help from a local biotech firm, focuses on one particular gene that determines whether people taste a bitter compound when they eat vegetables such as broccoli.
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