Killer in Me charts the journeys of GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips, former England footballer John Barnes, Heart FM disc jockey Toby Anstis and former newspaper editor and political presenter Andrew Neil as they undertake a one-stop DNA test to find out which common killers could be hidden within their genes.
The test, developed by The Genetic Health Group and Dr Paul Jenkins, Senior Clinical Researcher at Queen Mary School of Medecine, is designed to reveal an individual’s susceptibility to a host of life threatening medical conditions such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Our genes and our lifestyle are both crucial when it comes to disease but up until recently the genes were shrouded in mystery. The test now enables the individual to discover their genetic risk of disease and to do something about it.
But the decision to confront the secrets hidden in your genes isn’t always an easy one. Mum of two, Fiona Phillips, saw her own mother battle breast cancer, finally losing her to Alzheimer’s after an eight year fight, so the test could unlock the key to her own fate, but should she take the step to find out whether she has inherited her mother’s susceptibility to serious illness or leave the knowledge locked away in her DNA?
John Barnes has a family history of heart disease and prostate cancer, and his love of fast food is a worry to his wife. For Andrew Neil, could a stressful work-focussed life be exacerbating an underlying genetic pre-disposition that he is unaware of?
Finally for fitness-fanatic Toby Anstis, who was adopted at just a few weeks old with his twin sister, Kate, the test for him will provide the first concrete clues to his own biological inheritance and medical history, and stir up some deep rooted emotions in the process.
For the celebrities this is an opportunity to look into the future, opening a window not just on their lives but potentially their deaths. But just how much knowledge can they handle?
Thursday 8 November 2007 9:00pm - 10:00pm
Post a Comment