Table 1.
UNC Genomic Knowledge Scale Items
| Content Area | Item |
|---|---|
| Genes | 1. Genes are made of DNA. |
| 2. Genes affect health by influencing the proteins our bodies make. | |
| 3. All of a person’s genetic information is called his or her genome. | |
| 4. A person’s genes change completely every 7 years.* | |
| 5. The DNA in a gene is made of four building blocks (A, C, T, and G). | |
| 6. Everyone has about 20,000 to 25,000 genes. | |
| Genes and health | 7. Gene variants can have positive effects, harmful effects, or no effects on health. |
| 8. Most gene variants will affect a person’s health.* | |
| 9. Everyone who has a harmful gene variant will eventually have symptoms.* | |
| 10. Some gene variants have a large effect on health while others have a small effect. | |
| 11. Some gene variants decrease the chance of developing a disorder. | |
| 12. Two unrelated people with the same genetic variant will always have the same symptoms.* | |
| How genes are inherited in families | 13. Genetic disorders are always inherited from a parent.* |
| 14. If only one person in the family has a disorder it can’t be genetic.* | |
| 15. Everyone has a chance for having a child with a genetic disorder. | |
| 16. A girl inherits most of her genes from her mother while a boy inherits most of his genes from his father.* | |
| 17. A mother and daughter who look alike are more genetically similar than a mother and daughter who do not look alike.* | |
| 18. If a parent has a harmful gene variant, all of his or her children will inherit it.* | |
| 19. If one of your parents has a gene variant, your brother or sister may also have it. | |
| Whole exome sequencing | 20. Whole exome sequencing can find variants in many genes at once. |
| 21. Whole exome sequencing will find variants that cannot be interpreted at the present time. | |
| 22. Whole exome sequencing could find that you have a high risk for a disorder even if you do not have symptoms. | |
| 23. Your whole exome sequencing may not find the cause of your disorder even if it is genetic. | |
| 24. The gene variants that whole exome sequencing can find today could have different meanings in the future as scientists learn more about how genes work. | |
| 25. Whole exome sequencing will not find any variants in people who are healthy.* |
Note: Correct answer to the items is true unless followed by an asterisk (*).