I would like to thank Blaine over at Genetic Genealogy. He brought up a good point that I decided to clarify. The good folks over at Genome Technology Online thought so too.
September 14, 2007
Slow Down, and Mind the Gap
At Gene Sherpas: Personalized Medicine and You, Steve Murphy writes that overselling genomics could ruin the promise of personalized medicine. He defines the "gap phase" in between genomics and medical application of genomics as having "to do with literature and evidence based medicine. In medicine, doctors try not to do anything without good data that shows long term outcomes." The problem, he writes, is that there needs to be more physicians trained in genetics, or more geneticists available to them to interpret all that new genomic data."
In reading the link, I realized that several members of the DNANetwork have been quoted. I am so glad that we have this wonderful group. Even though we all may not agree, all the time. I think we all can agree that to get the best information on the bleeding edge of genetics, health, and science all you have to do is tune in to the network.
Lastly, I wanted to make a plea for Bertalan Mesko over at ScienceRoll. He is looking for donations to have his genome sequenced. I only can imagine the ebay implications........ If you thought auctioning off your baby's name was unique. Wait till they start auctioning off genomes!!!
The Sherpa Says: Berci, Helix Health of Connecticut will pay for your genome once the cost is 1000 USD. Although we don't recommend using the WHOLE genome for healthcare decisions quite yet.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Thanks to Dr Bettinger
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4 comments:
Of course, I don't want to use the whole genome now. And forget about the e-bay implications, I only want to use those data for personal purposes. Anyway, thanks for the mention!
I don't disagree that there is and will be a "gap phase" but the assertion that "overselling genomics could ruin the promise of personalized medicine" is ludicrous! The technology is going wherever it can no matter what - the more "wild west" the approach, the more tracks get followed, then darwinism (and capitalism) takes over and the worst ideas die off anyway. Otherwise, why don't we still have people with red flags walking in front of our cars? Where is the grand thinking that took the US to the moon nearly 40 years ago? "Nanny-state" thinking and unnecessary caution is this country's worst enemy.
I would love to have my genome sequenced. I want to know what diseases I'm susceptible too. I’m 26 years old right now and have never been sick (beyond the flu and stuff like that) before. But I want to know what mutations or SNP variations I have that could put me at an increased risk for adult onset disorders. How can I go about contacting a lab to have my genome sequenced? Can I voluntary volunteer a tissue sample to have it sequenced and have it returned back to me on DVD’s?
Ahh yes,
the 'ol Which SNPs put me at risk question. The question really is "How much risk, is risk?" How about a dad with diabetes? Much more risk than TCF7L2 snps..... I would love that genome analysis too. But guess what? The scientific data isn't there to make these analyses yet.
-Steve
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