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Don't be scared. It's just one little genome:
Advances in technology have made it much easier, faster and less expensive to do whole genome sequencing — to spell out all three billion letters in a person's genetic code. Falling costs have given rise to speculation that it could soon become a routine part of medical care, perhaps as routine as checking your blood pressure.
But will such tests, which can be done for as little as $1,000, prove useful, or needlessly scary?
The first closely-controlled study [DOI: 10.7326/M17-0188] [DX] aimed at answering that question suggests that doctors and their patients can handle the flood of information the tests would produce. The study was published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We can actually do genome sequencing in normal, healthy individuals without adverse consequences — and actually with identification of some important findings," says Teri Manolio, director of the division of genomic medicine at the National Human Genome Institute, which funded the study. Manolio wrote an editorial [DOI: 10.7326/M17-1518] [DX] accompanying the paper.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 28 2017, @04:44PM (2 children)
I would like to fully sequence my genome as long as I could be sure I'd be the only one who'd have that information, and I'd be the only one who'd know about any red flags. I don't see how that would be possible under any existing corporate or government regime. If somebody wanted to sequence my genome without my knowledge or permission they could always follow me around and collect a glass I've drunk out of or something, but they should at least have to work for it. I wouldn't just hand it to them. I wouldn't even trust a "home DNA sequencer" machine, should such a thing come to exist, because there have been too many cases of machines and systems phoning home with our data. Best case to sequence your own genome now without being spied on would be to have a buddy in a university lab with access to one who'd run it for you in exchange for a case of beer or something.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday June 28 2017, @06:15PM (1 child)
Then you run into the next problems:
1. Getting free software paired with data sources capable of telling you something useful about your genome (or other DNA sample).
2. Interacting with the medical establishment in a way that protects your privacy but still allows you to get treatment targeting your genome.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 28 2017, @08:42PM
Pfah, no need. I know perl.
That seems a little hypothetical yet, because personalized medicine hasn't really arrived on the practitioner level. Doctor-patient confidentiality would seem to still apply, though.
Washington DC delenda est.