It's One of A Kind

After learning about the genome study in Berkeley it sparked my interest and led me to this article. The article “ From Californian’s DNA project, a Giant Genome Project” from the New York Times boasts that it is the largest human genome study of its kind. The purpose of the genome study is to find out the underlying genes related to chronic diseases and to discover ways that people can live longer. What makes this study is different from other genome wide studies are not only because of its large sample size, but also that each individual genome will be analyzed and paired with its medical history.

Kaiser Permanente and the University of California, San Francisco is jointly conducting the genome-wide association study. Cells for analysis are extracted from the spit of 10,000 volunteer members of Kaiser Permanente. As a Kaiser member myself, I did not know about this project. However, if I were asked to volunteer I would have gladly taken the offer. This genome wide study is used to compare genes with people of who have been diagnosed with chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cancer with those of people who are currently healthy. The team from UCSF led by Elizabeth Blackburn, will analyze the samples and measure the length of the telomeres. In turn, they hope to find a correlation between telomere length and one’s medical history. The study is to be finished in less than 18 months. The technology is now advancing so quickly that it is progressing from the lab to the home. However, unlike the Berkeley study these samples do not give volunteers the option to review their results. The names of the volunteers are quickly erased and replaced with codes, therefore only the researchers can link their genomes to their respective medical histories. Kaiser will keep continue the project for the next few years spending about 9 million dollars to retain the samples.

Similar to the Berkeley study, it is unsure if the information gained in the study outweighs the disadvantages or consequences that may occur. Are we going to learn anything new from the results? In addition, is the information gained from the project worth the millions of dollars it is going to cost? I guess we will have to wait and see if the genome study is worth the effort and money it needs

Link to Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/science/30sfgenome.html?fta=y