The OpenHelix Blog

Genetic Future reports: First ever association study using whole genome sequences.

New-technology DNA sequencing provider Complete Genomics will provide near-complete genome sequences of 100 individuals to the Institute for Systems Biology, driving the first ever association study for a complex trait using whole-genome sequencing. Here’s the press release, and GenomeWeb has some additional information

This study was done by Complete Genomics, and as Daniel mentions, does indicate some changes and advances to come. Read the entire post, he mentions some things learned at ASHG about how these studies will look in the future, and particularly, this sentence…

Now the real challenge - coming up with ways of handling the massive volumes of data generated by these technologies

goes to the heart of something I see as a very important question. Not only the right tools but funding them.

An embarrassment of riches.

I was just having this discussion with in-laws, both in the medical field, that personal genomics was on it’s way. We discussed how this was going to affect our health insurance and health care, in both good and scary ways. Well, as Genetic Future blogs, Illumina delivers its first commercial personal genome sequence.

The service cost 48,000 US dollars, which is of course a far cry from the millions it would have cost a decade ago. Complete Genomics, a new company to do just this, says it will offer genome sequences for 5k US dollars. So pricing will only go down all around as competition heats up.

That light you see might be the train of personal genomics.