Genetic testing for talent: The answer for the future?

"Fortune teller" looks at... genes!

Faced with the increasing demand for genetic testing to find child prodigies, genetic testing centers have launched a series of genetic decoding testing packages specifically for comprehensive child development, including: Sports gene system; IQ gene system; Art gene system; Social gene system; Optimistic - creative gene system; Cognitive gene system...

h3.jpg -1 — The trend of genetic testing to find children's talents is facing many different opinions.

Wanting to discover his 4-year-old daughter's talent early to orient her future, Mr. LTH (30 years old, living in Ben Thanh ward, Ho Chi Minh City) decided to buy an artistic genetic testing package costing 4.9 million VND. This testing package will decode the child's genes for absolute musical sense, rich imagination, and tendencies toward introversion, extroversion, or strength, sensitivity... The gene decoding results showed that Mr. H.'s child only excels in being careful, responsible, and introverted, and has no talent for language or musical appreciation.

After receiving the results, Mr. H. took his child out of the piano class and switched to a drawing class. “She has a talent for drawing, is persistent and careful, so I will plan for her to become an artist or a teacher in the future,” Mr. H. shared.

Thinking of discovering her child's strengths before it's too late, Ms. MT (Xuan Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) took her 3-year-old son to get an IQ and Cognition gene decoding kit for 9 million VND. Ms. T. shared: "Before decoding my child's genes, for a long time I was under a lot of pressure because my child's math scores were always at the bottom of the class. The gene decoding results showed that my child's math thinking ability was low, so I no longer had high expectations for him. I also discovered that when I used clear, vivid, and intuitive examples to explain math problems to my child, he grasped them very quickly."

Since then, Ms. T. has changed many choices in her child's activities and life. "My son does not like to participate in summer activities but wants to have his own space, while my husband and I are worried that he is autistic and lacks confidence. The results of the Cognitive Gene Decoding show that my son has a high level of stimulation in the new area of the cerebral cortex, leading to an introverted personality, not a sign of autism. Knowing that, I bought robots and chess for my son to play and assemble by himself. When he is old enough, I will send him to gifted classes in science and technology."

h2.jpg -0 — Many children, even without genetic testing, still show talent due to their living environment and family education.

Children who are learning to eat and speak suddenly become a heavy pressure for parents when following the trend of genetic testing to find future geniuses. When children are old enough to enter school, in addition to the main curriculum at school, there are gifted classes, sports, foreign languages... based on the results of the gene decoder. Ms. MT believes that to avoid children falling behind, it is better to learn too much than not enough. "The talent from the gene decoder is the compass for children to step into their future without having to regret choosing the wrong career or wrong interests," Ms. T. analyzed.

Are genes the determining factor?

Grasping the thoughts and ideas of many parents, genetic testing centers have sprung up one after another, making attractive advertisements and invitations such as: "Each person is born with their own natural gifts and talents, the best thing you can do for your children is to accept and learn how to develop good talents based on their natural strengths. Thanks to that, children will not only excel in life but also be happier and more perfect. Therefore, the innate talent gene decoder is like a compass to help parents determine the right direction for their children...".

Or, like the advertisement at the VT genetic testing center, in addition to introducing the team of foreign medical experts and advanced, modern machines, this center also writes deep analysis articles that can captivate many parents: "We tend to lead our children in a way that we ourselves want, but this is contrary to the actual ability and innate ability of children. When children are young, they cannot understand everything and that is when the innate talent gene test shows its superiority, innate skills from childhood, instead of guiding them along the beaten path...".

Ms. TMN (living in Di An ward, Ho Chi Minh City) has 2 children, a 7-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl. Having heard a lot about the trend of genetic testing, Ms. N. also took her children to have their talents decoded. Ms. N. bought an IQ genetic test package for her son and an optimism - creativity package for her daughter. The genetic decoding results showed that the 7-year-old boy has a talent for music and art but is physically weak. The girl has strong genes, loves adventure, and is imaginative. With these results, Ms. N. decided to switch her son to music and piano lessons, and learn to swim and run to improve his physical strength.

“I did the right thing with the gene decoder to develop my son's innate talent. My daughter discovered through her genes that she has a good memory and can easily absorb new knowledge. Therefore, she has good concentration, thinks deeply, likes thinking activities and needs personal space. During the summer of 2025, my wife took our child to participate in extracurricular science programs. He was happy and shared his excitement about new discoveries every day after school.” Ms. N. shared and was confident that she had made the right choice for her child to develop according to what her body had programmed.

As a businessman whose parents are teachers, Mr. TCM was advised by a close friend to take his child for a genetic test to find talent because his 6-year-old daughter M. showed talent in painting and music since she was 3 years old. She had participated in child talent search competitions on several TV channels and received high awards. Trusting, Mr. M. sent his daughter's genes to the testing company to find out the future for her.

According to the introducer, the experiment will analyze the child's tendencies with indicators of genetic talent. The results of Mr. M's daughter's gene decoding showed that she was more gifted in music than in science. Mr. TCM discussed with his family to change his plans for his daughter's future. He focused on investing in his child's gifted subjects, while keeping her away from careers that required a lot of memorization.

“At first, I wanted my daughter to become a doctor, a lawyer or a professor. However, the genetic test results showed that she had a poor memory. If I let her continue to follow her wishes, she would have to study a lot and memorize a lot,” Mr. M. shared.

h4.jpg -2 — Let children develop their natural abilities instead of relying on genetic test results to guide their future.

There are many different opinions on the trend of taking children for genetic testing to find their talents. According to psychologist Le Kim Chung (Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Shield Club), there are many cases where children initially do not show any outstanding abilities, but during the process of parents' guidance and nurturing, the child begins to show talent in that subject. On the other hand, many families have parents who are artistically inclined but their children have no passion or interest. And, during the nurturing process, parents only begin to help their children choose their favorite career. This view holds that talent is formed by nurturing and external influences.

However, it is easy to see that a child with talent in any field cannot be sure that he will become a talent in that field. Genetic potential also needs favorable conditions to develop, it is unstable and easy to change to be able to form complete talent. Therefore, let children develop naturally according to the law of maturity in a specific environment and circumstances.

let's play and develop naturally like that.jpg -3 — Playing and developing naturally are legitimate needs of children.

Scientifically, Dr. Nguyen Khac Han Hoan, Vice President of the Vietnam Genetics Association, Head of the Department of Medical Genetic Testing at Tu Du Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) shared that genetic testing to predict the talents of children and adults is still a field that lacks sufficient evidence in terms of genetics, medicine and sociology. Genetic research has determined that traits such as intelligence, sports talent, music or mathematics are complex, multi-gene, multi-factorial traits, influenced by many genes with very small effects and closely interacting with the environment such as: nurturing conditions, education, nutrition, social experience...

The genetic variants discovered and published in some studies on giftedness are not accurate enough, and do not have enough scientific basis to predict in a personalized way and apply to each child reliably. In standard medical practice, geneticists still do not have any basis to be able to give these test indications. Therefore, we should not use them as a tool to decide on the future direction of children.

Therefore, relying on test results to make educational decisions or future orientations can lead to regrettable mistakes that cause parents to miss out on their children's true potential. In other words, educational strategies should be based on observation, real-life experiences and nurturing passions instead of relying entirely on inaccurate predictive genetic test results.

Dr. Hoan believes that parents should be close, pay attention to observing reality, encourage children to experience diversely, and nurture their interests flexibly instead of setting expectations based on test results that lack scientific basis, leading to unfortunate mistakes that may occur, affecting the future of children.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Phong-su-tu-lieu/xet-nghiem-gen-tim-tai-nang-dap-an-cho-tuong-lai--i780549/