{"id":642739,"date":"2013-02-15T14:52:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T19:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=611255"},"modified":"2013-02-15T14:52:50","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T19:52:50","slug":"as-genome-sequencing-becomes-more-affordable-should-you-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/642739","title":{"rendered":"As genome sequencing becomes more affordable should you do it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genome sequencing is becoming more affordable than ever before \u2013 several companies in the industry say the $1,000 personal genome <\/a>is just around the corner. But, even if you can afford it, is mapping your genes worth it if you don\u2019t have a specific medical condition to consider?<\/p>\n

Despite the whole “knowledge is power” argument \u2013 it could help with early diagnosis and prevention or lead a doctor to better treatment options for an existing condition \u2013 sequencing skeptics raise valid concerns and questions when it comes to gene sequencing for healthy people. How precise is it? How well will consumers be able to interpret the results? Will it just lead to needless hand-wringing about conditions that people won\u2019t be able to do to much to address or that won\u2019t surface until much later in life?<\/p>\n

For now, those are questions for people with only the deepest pockets. But it won\u2019t be long before the conversation becomes more relevant for more of us and, in the Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/i> this week, two doctors weigh in with the pros and cons of the debate over whether healthy people should have their genomes sequenced.<\/p>\n

Dr. Atul J. Butte, division chief and associate professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Center for Pediatric Bioinformatics at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., takes the pro position. And Dr. Robert Green, a medical geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, argues against it.<\/p>\n

Even though Dr. Butte acknowledges that gene sequencing isn\u2019t perfect, he believes the positives outweigh the negatives. He says:<\/p>\n