Paying for Personalized Medicine

Who pays for genome sequencing in treating disease? Although it can be easily argued that genome sequencing can be used beneficially, probably the biggest detriment to implementing genomic medicine is: Who pays? Presently, many insurance companies will reimburse for sequencing the tumor genomes of...

Big Data and Medicine

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Wearable Health Devices

What other types of personal health information can be readily collected? Most health-related measurements are administered in or through a doctor’s office and are typically taken when we are sick; the measurements that are taken when we are healthy are infrequent, and we often...

Prenatal Testing

How are genome sequencing technologies changing prenatal testing? One area where genomics is revolutionizing current practice is prenatal DNA testing. Prenatal DNA testing is a common practice used to monitor whether fetuses may have abnormal chromosome numbers (aneuploidy), which occurs about once in every...

Complex Genetic Diseases

What is a complex genetic disease? Although great strides have been made to identify single gene variants that have a strong causative effect for a particular disease (e.g., CFTR mutations for cystic fibrosis and HEXA mutations for Tay-Sachs disease), the...

An Introduction to Cancer Genetics

What is cancer and how does it arise? The ability to sequence genomes inexpensively has had enormous impact in medicine and helped usher in the new era of personal genomics. One of the areas of highest impact is cancer, which will strike 40% of...

Privacy

Can people be identified solely from their genome sequence? Identify theft is a significant concern in the financial sector as compromise of the privacy of financial data can create personal havoc. Is this a significant concern for genomic information? Genomic sequencing has the potential...

Ethics

Can your genetic information be used against you? In the United States, a relatively recent law called GINA, for Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, prevents discrimination on the basis of genetic information for health insurance and employment. This law has limitations, however, and does not...

Your Immune System and Infectious Diseases

How does your immune system protect you? You likely have heard of “bubble kids,” namely, children who lack an immune system and are forced to live in a sterile environment. If they encounter a pathogen, a virus, or bacteria that can harm them, they...

Genomics for the Healthy Person

Would knowing your genome affect the disease you might get, the job you choose, the sports you play, and the food you eat? Here we explore the role of knowing your genome sequence if you are healthy.