Five Questions for Personal Genomics in 2010
Death, taxes and January prediction columns: these things are inevitable. So what? A new year offers a convenient—if arbitrary—time to review the year that was and contemplate what lies ahead. Without further ado, here are five of the questions the Genomics Law Report is asking as we kick off 2010.
1. Will the $1,000 genome live up to the hype? Affordable whole-genome sequencing is coming, possibly as early as this year depending on whom you ask. But when the day inevitably arrives, after the media frenzy has subsided, will the $1,000 genome prove anti-climactic?
Whole-genome sequencing is a means to an end and not an end in itself. The understandable excitement surrounding Complete Genomics’ November announcement that it had sequenced three genomes for an average cost of $4,400 often neglected to focus on what the price tag did not cover: the substantial costs associated with interpreting the genomic data.
For genomics researchers, the falling cost of whole-genome sequencing is a continuing cause for celebration, enabling increasingly ambitious research projects. But the success of personal genomics, which is what really matters to consumers, patients and healthcare providers, requires more than inexpensive genomic data. The real breakthrough in personal genomics will come when we can offer individuals affordable access to their whole-genome sequence as well as to the genomic tools and knowledgebase necessary for those individuals to put that data to use.
Is deCODEme Taking a Page from the 23andMe Playbook?
Daniel MacArthur of Genetic Future provides coverage of the decision by direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics service provider deCODEme to offer existing 23andMe customers the ability to upload their raw 23andMe data to the deCODEme service. For free.
MacArthur correctly notes that the value of the genome scans provided by companies such as 23andMe and deCODEme lies not in the actual creation of raw genetic data but in the interpretation of that data, and wonders why deCODEme has decided to give that away for free. Here’s MacArthur’s take:
So, why the free offer? I’m guessing deCODEme is gambling (quite reasonably) that offering free uploads will attract a non-trivial number of 23andMe customers over to deCODEme’s interface. That then provides the Icelanders with an opportunity to give people a fair trial of their own interface, and hopefully to impress them with the quality and accessibility of the data provided.
That seems reasonable, and many 23andMe customers are likely already familiar with porting their raw genetic data to other interpretive tools – Promethease, for example – so perhaps this puts deCODE in front of a group of individuals who would not otherwise be in the market for a duplicative genome scan. (23andMe appears unconcerned by the prospect of a side-by-side comparison of its service with that of deCODEme.)
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