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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.
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March 31, 2009
Category: decodeme
Icelandic biotech deCODE Genetics announces financial figures for 2008 that suggest a slide towards financial oblivion.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 6:20 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: personal genomics
Personal genomics company 23andMe has, in a stroke of pure marketing genius, established a network of "mommy bloggers" to help sell their products and change society's perception of genetic testing.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 3:00 PM • 19 Comments •
March 25, 2009
Category: personal genomics
A New Scientist report demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining large-scale genetic data from an unwilling target, using readily available commercial services.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 4:45 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: gene-environment interactions
Neuroscientists Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt have a guest post on Olivia Judson's NY Times blog discussing the complex interplay between genes and environment in the determination of personality traits. A taste:So some of the effects that we call "genetic"...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 8:45 AM • 2 Comments •
March 24, 2009
Category: evolutionary genetics
Pickrell, J., Coop, G., Novembre, J., Kudaravalli, S., Li, J., Absher, D., Srinivasan, B., Barsh, G., Myers, R., Feldman, M., & Pritchard, J. (2009). Signals of recent positive selection in a worldwide sample of human populations Genome Research DOI: 10.1101/gr.087577.108I...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 6:56 PM • 1 Comments •
March 23, 2009
Category: genome-wide scans for selection
A new paper in Genome Research explores the signatures left on our genomes by natural selection over the last 10-40,000 years of human adaptation.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 9:10 PM • 4 Comments •
Category: personal genomics
To complete my 23andMe trifecta this morning, here's Steve Murphy frothing at the mouth about the company's recent antics:Why is it so vital that physicians, nurses and others in the healthcare field try to stay above the law? Because patients...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 10:45 AM • 13 Comments •
Category: personal genomics
A casual aside in a recent post on 23andMe's corporate blog suggests that the company is already screening for rare genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease, but not reporting results back to customers.
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 9:15 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: personal genomics
Drew Yates at ThinkGene has a delightfully cynical take on the personal genomics industry:I know 23andMe's game, it's the "break the mean with variance" game, and it's the same Silicon Valley game that's been played by internet media companies for...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 7:50 AM • 4 Comments •
March 22, 2009
Category: pre-natal genetic diagnosis
Yesterday I pointed to an article by New Scientist editor Michael Le Page advocating routine carrier testing for severe disease genes in parents-to-be, followed by IVF and pre-implantation genetic screening of embryos for couples unfortunate enough to both be carrying...
Posted by Daniel MacArthur at 10:46 AM • 9 Comments •
