Why using genetics in public healthcare makes sense
The first complete and gap-free human genome sequence has been published, more than 20 years after the first draft was published by the Human Genome Project and Celera Corporation, when approximately 8% of the total was still missing.
This is a major milestone for research and the future of healthcare: soon, we will all have be able to have our genetic map fully sequenced, making it possible for us to reach the next level of personalization of healthcare in general, and in particular, prescriptions for many types of medication.
In fact, more and more physicians are advocating genetic testing for medication personalization, something I have personal experience of, and which does not even necessarily require full sequencing, but can be done with a much simpler and cheaper marker analysis. As always with technology, we will soon see exponential reductions in the cost of genetic sequencing that will bring us closer to what was once the realm of science fiction: a simple analysis costing $80 or less such as those offered by 23andMe and others allows, as in my case, the discovery of an increased sensitivity to warfarin, a well-known anticoagulant that usually requires some experimentation to find the right dose, a subject I have discussed on occasion with doctors before they make a prescription.
