The revolution in human genomics, still barely understood in the doctor’s office, is about to hit the street, at least for those able to pay about $1,000 for a glance at their entire genome.
The Icelandic company deCODE Genetics announced yesterday that it is now offering a service called deCODEme, which will assess a person’s genome for risk of common diseases, bodily traits like hair and eye color, and ancestral origins. Subscribers have to send in a scraping of cells from inside the cheek and a check for $985 reports the New York Times.
A similar service, using a smaller but custom-made analytic device, is being unveiled soon by 23andMe, a Google-financed company founded by Linda Avey, a biotechnology executive, and Anne Wojcicki, a health-care investor who is married to Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder. The 23 in the company’s name refers to the 23 pairs of chromosomes in the human genome.
A third company, Navigenics, of Redwood Shores, Calif., is expected to focus on disease genes.
Unlike the present genetic testing and genetic genealogy companies, which look at a few specific genes, the new services will sample the whole human genome.
Many people may welcome the rich new trove of data about their hereditary make-up and ancestry, but genetic counselors are concerned that some people may find the information hard to handle, given that much of the current genetic knowledge is related to a person’s risk of developing common and often untreatable diseases.
The new services will use devices known as SNP chips, which offer a cheap substitute for decoding the three billion units of the human genome, a task that would probably cost $1 million or so per person at present.
DeCODE Genetics will not test the variants covered in most genetic tests, where a single change causes a specific disease with high certainty. These are mostly rare diseases. The common diseases, which the company will assess, are generally caused by several different mutations, each one of which confers a small extra risk. DeCODE will not test for the ApoE4 mutation associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Read it here: Experts Advise a Grain of Salt with Mail-Order Genomes