The new frontier for disease cure and prevention is somewhere in our gene, that we have all known for a while. Until not so long ago, high costs and long timings have prevented to exploit the incredible possibilities of genome sequencing.
Now that the wall of costs has been broken, the first mass DNA sequencing workshop could finally begin. This month, researchers at Kaiser Permanente, a volunteer based DNA bank, together with the University of California, began the highly automated, large-scale process of analyzing that DNA, which is being extracted from tens of thousands of saliva samples donated since 2008.
The main goal is to computer cross-analyze the genes of people with diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis, which will possible lead to pinpoint the genes responsible for the illnesses.
The process will be completed in less than 18 months, a speed that would have seemed preposterous to contemplate a decade ago.
What makes the Kaiser study unique is that members of a single, colossal cohort will have their genomes scanned uniformly, then paired with their medical histories. “It is absolutely the largest study of its kind, and it has enormous statistical power”, said Winifred K. Ross, project manager for the National Institute of Aging.
Experiments like this one underscore how quickly gene-scanning technology is moving from the lab to the home. Last week, officials of the University of California, Berkeley, disclosed that 6,000 incoming freshman and transfer students will be asked to swab their cheeks at home for DNA, to participate in a collective lesson in genetics and a preview of the predicted era when medicine will be tailored to each person’s genetic makeup. Each student who agrees to participate will be able to tap in a security code on a laptop and check whether they carry gene variants that might affect their ability to process lactose, alcohol or folate, a vitamin found in leafy greens.
