“The real message here is that conventional medicine doesn’t have to be replaced or supplanted by genomic medicine. The integration of blood tests with genome sequencing adds so much granularity and precision.”
—

Elaine R. Mardis as quoted in Eisenberg, Anne. “A Geneticist’s Research Turns Personal.” The New York Times. 2 June 2012. Web. 4 Jun. 2012 [source]

Dr. Michael Snyder, a professor and chairman of the genetics department at the Stanford University School of Medicine, sequenced his genome and learned that he had a high risk for Type 2 diabetes. Not long after learning about this risk, he caught a cold passed on to him by his children that may have helped prompt the onset of diabetes via stress. However because Dr. Snyder had analyzed his genome and monitored his molecular data (RNA, proteins, metabolites and autoantibodies) from his blood samples, he was able to make the necessary changes to his lifestyle and treat his diabetes 18 - 20 months before his next doctors visit. Dr. Snyder was thus able to avoid any serious damage by combining the new, genomic sequencing, with the old, standard blood tests.

Don’t get all of your hopes up yet, human genome sequencing is still $4,000 but according to George M. Church, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, the price could fall to $1,000 or less within the next year.

You can read his study at this link, it’s pretty cool.

Jun. 4 2012
Via The New York Times
#genetics #medicine #science #biotech #biology #health
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