Playing personal genomics catchup
January 12, 2008
One week into the year and we have already seen a flurry of personal genomics activity and news.
The first piece of info that caught my eye was that GATC Biotech, a next-gen sequencing service provider and genomics company, had annouced LifeCode, which they call the EU’s first personal genomics company. The company says that they will focus on placing an individual’s genomic data in a “medical context”. I presume that they plan to use next-gen sequencing for their efforts, but the pricing and methodology is not known at this time. The service will launch in April
Knome, which has said it will sequence the entire genome (as opposed to genotyping) for $350K announced a deal with Beijing Genomics Institute for sequencing services
The NEJM’s report on personal genomics, resulted in a flurry of discussion. Notable follow up includes blog posts by Blaine Bettinger and Steve Murphy. I maintain my position that the cat is out of the bag, and there are enough people with money and the interest to use the available services (not all will survive, but some will). Our goal should focus on education, and making sure that people are aware of the risks, not only patients, but also physicians who are having to deal with patients that not only search web resources like WebMD (often second guessing their physicians), but might also come armed with a report listing some potential disease-causing SNPs.
On that note, Paul Kedrosky points to a press release from a public interest group which has this memorable line
basing decisions solely on online hysteria and fear could lead to a public health crisis or even death.
It is true that there is so much information available on the web today that it is difficult to distill it down. It is also true that a little knowledge can be more dangerous than none at all. However, if we are to move towards an aware, educated population, our emphasis should be on the aforementioned education, and a change in approach, where we work with our medical providers to understand what the online information might mean. Physicians shouldn’t feel threatened, and patients should realize that they are not the experts. This “problem” is only going to get worse before things reach a point of equilibrium.
Technorati Tags: personal genomics, personalized medicine, Knome, LifeCode
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