Monday, March 2, 2009

New Family History tool to Debut


It's as if everyone in the technology land had been hearing my cries!

"Family history is the cheapest and the best whole genome scan we have!!"


With the potential in ancestry companies to turn their tools into family history gathering machines we are now seeing a big shift in focus from merely ancestry to ancestry AND medical history. One great tool that is coming comes from a website called ItRunsInMyFamily.com

And like every self respecting entrepreneur looking to boost SEO, they have started a blog.

But what's even better, they beat me to the punch when comparing genetic testing versus family history...

They pit them head to head.....

From the blog:


Breadth of Diseases
Over 6,000 known single-gene disorders. (This does not include multi-factorial diseases) “Every human disease has a genetic component.”


Family History: Can track an unlimited number of diseases. Any disease that has an inherited or genetic component can be listed on a family health history.


Genetic Tests: ~1,000 clinically relevant genetic tests available today. Most are for single-gene disorders, few adequate genetic tests are available for multi-factorial diseases. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing services (# of diseases): 23andMe (26), deCODEme (35), Navigenics (23), Myriad BRCA (2).


ADVANTAGE: Family History


The result?




The Sherpa Says: with all of these fly by night and limited clinical utility genotech companies out there, it is sure nice to see someone with good business AND Clinical sense!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Problem? They only do a few diseases.

Why doesn't a company like this contract with doctors and have doctors outsource the family history gathering information if they don't have a GC in office? It would save the doctor time and can provide better care for the patient.

N/A

Anonymous said...

"OVERALL WINNER: Family History & Genetic Testing Together."

Oh right, you're neither a scientist nor a journalist, so you don't need to be objective or factually accurate.