Now on ScienceBlogs: Rhodes Secretary: Wall Street Megabonuses Draining Our Young Talent
Commentary on human genetics and evolution, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, and the personal genomics industry.
Daniel MacArthur
I write about the genetic and evolutionary basis of human variation, and the companies trying to sell you information about your genome.
Subscribe via RSS.
Follow me on Twitter.
November 30, 2008
Category: genetics of normal variation
The NY Times reports on the launch of a genetic test for athletic performance, aimed at the parents of young children. How useful is this test likely to be to its customers?
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 10:40 AM • 0 Comments •
November 20, 2008
Category: disease genetics
At Gene Expression, p-ter points to two studies in this week's New England Journal of Medicine examining the predictive value of known genetic markers for type 2 diabetes. Both studies find the additional predictive power of the genetic markers beyond...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 12:15 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: personal genomics
The US Food and Drug Administration is currently looking into collaborating with personal genomics companies to track adverse drug reactions.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 6:40 AM • 7 Comments •
November 19, 2008
Pre-natal genetic screening for common diseases like type 2 diabetes is becoming technically feasible - but it's unlikely to be widely adopted in the near future, for several important reasons.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 6:49 PM • 3 Comments •
November 18, 2008
A Nature News article discusses the ongoing 1000 Genomes Project, an international effort planning to sequence 1,200-1,500 human genomes. The discussion springs from project co-chair David Altshuler's update at last week's American Society of Human Genetics meeting on the progress...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 11:18 AM • 1 Comments •
November 15, 2008
Category: genetic ancestry testing
Blaine Bettinger at the Genetic Genealogist has an extensive and thoughtful critique of the American Society of Human Genetics' recently released statement on genetic ancestry testing (pdf). (You can read about the Society's statement at GenomeWeb News and Science Now;...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 9:41 AM • 0 Comments •
November 14, 2008
Category: 1000 genomes project
Last week I posted on the publication of three papers in Nature describing whole-genome sequencing using next-generation technology: one African genome, one Asian genome, and two genomes from a female cancer patient (one from her cancer cells and one from...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 2:18 PM • 0 Comments •
November 11, 2008
Category: personal genomics
A new personal genomics company, Lumigenix, is poised to launch its service in Australia - but the newcomer will face both stiff competition and a hostile regulatory environment.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 9:22 AM • 1 Comments •
November 10, 2008
Category: genome-wide scans for selection
A new online browser offers insight into natural selection in humans using genome-wide genetic variation data from 53 populations.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 8:18 AM • 7 Comments •
November 7, 2008
Category: personal genomics
deCODE CEO Kari Stefansson on the recent award of Time magazine's "Invention of the Year" to personal genomics competitor 23andMe: Despite the fact that we launched our test first - so we basically invented this, and also 23andMe is using...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 12:44 PM • 8 Comments •
