Children's hospitals are launching big efforts to identify more rare diseases through genome sequencing. Even as new treatments become available, many families struggle to reach a diagnosis.
Other commercial tests only explore a small portion of the genome with gene panels - myGenome would essentially replace the need for any of those individually.
The ripple-effect of last week’s 23andMe news is just the beginning. A new study and an important genomics conference will only further highlight the opportunities coming in personalized medicine. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Future of Personalized Genomics, shows that genetic tests provided by companies straight to consumers via the e-commerce platform are more affordable […]
By Jeffrey N. Wasserstein – Either Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) reads the FDA Law Blog, or great minds truly think alike. On Feb. 20, 2014, Sen. Alexander wrote to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius asking her to clarify HHS’s position regarding patient access to health information, noting the same discrepancy between […]
I don’t think I’ve ever (in 20+ years of writing) reprinted a press release verbatim. Often I don’t even get to the end of them because of all the PR speak. However, today the Mayo Clinic sent out this list. It is concise, compelling and I can’t think of any way to improve it. The […]
The director of the National Institutes of Health met with the family of Henrietta Lacks three times. Two journals delayed plans to publish a map of the HeLa genome. And now family members now will have a say in how their relative’s genetic material will be used in future research projects. NIH director Francis Collins […]
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In the back seat of a taxi, on the way home from oral arguments in the AMP v. Myriad Genetics Supreme Court case, Chris Mason and Jeffrey Rosenfeld decided to start a company. Mason, a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical School and an affiliate of Yale University, had provided expert witness testimony to the […]
The dilemma of our age, in the words of bioethicist Dr. Ryan Nash, is asking what should be done in medical care, and not merely what can be done. “Often we’re facing innovations and technology that we can use a certain way, but a key question to ask is should we?” Nash leads the Center […]
In an attempt to calculate the ROI for an estimated $14.5 billion the U.S. government pumped into Human Genome Project-related research, Battelle has come up with an astonishing number: $1 trillion. Over the course of the last 24 years, projects related to sequencing the human genome have yielded an economic impact of $965 billion, including […]
If you’re visiting this site, you’re probably pretty aware of some of the technological advances that healthcare experts think will change the industry (here’s looking at you, 3-D printing and sensors). But there are a few technologies in particular that tech and business experts think everyone should know about, from general consumers to policymakers, to […]
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Eleven scientists found out today that they are the “inaugural laureates” of the BreakThrough Prize in Life Sciences. Each one will receive $3 million from a new foundation of the same name. Seven of the winners are working on some aspect of cancer research from telomeres to cancer metabolism to tumor suppressor genes. In an […]
His most recent book is called The $1,000 Genome, but Kevin Davies says that the $100 genome isn’t out of reach in the move toward personalized medicine. The author and editor-in-chief of Bio-IT World laid out a brief history of whole genome sequencers – from the Roche 454 system that took off in the mid-2000s […]
With $10 million in new investments and a $4.5 million grant from National Human Genome Research Institute, a Cambridge DNA sequencing company is preparing to launch its version of a desktop DNA sequencer next year. “To carry out the process (of DNA sequencing), you need a team that understands how to do microbiology, informatics, and […]
The biggest new healthcare product unveiled at CES this week was undoubtedly Life Technologies Corp.’s (NASDAQ:LIFE) new Ion Proton Sequencer, a bench-top machine that the company says will be able to sequence the entire human genome for $1,000 by the end of the year. (A side note: Illumina Inc. announced the release of a similar […]
Dr. Eric Topol is hoping the Digital Health Summit at CES will kickstart a consumer health revolution needed to improve patient access to information and drive down healthcare costs. Wednesday’s opening panel discussion was chock-full of soundbites from Scripps Translational Science Institute Chief Academic Officer Topol, Life Technologies CEO Greg Lucier — who said technology […]
