Personalized Genetics: Still Rising November 17, 2007

This is a new weekend with plenty of posts from the field of personalized genetics. After my review about companies focusing on individualized medicine, I got several positive comments, so I’m going to write other reviews soon. Until then, here are some interesting news, announcements:

• Personalized Medicine: Against the Odds (Epidemix): Shocking statistics to promote personalized medicine.

• deCODE Offers Personal Genomic Sequencing Test for $985: Another company to write about. Coverage at The Genetic Genealogist and DNA Direct Talk.

• Highlights from the Burrill Personalized Medicine Meeting at Wired and The Gene Sherpa:

“Early medical testing and treatment could save patients and healthcare providers a ton of money, but nobody wants to pay for unproven and often expensive new lab work. FDA approval is not required for laboratory tests, but it is an indicator that products are actually beneficial to doctors and patients.” – Wired

• Get Your Genetic Test Results Online and Who Needs a Physician? (PredictER): The problem of DTC genetic testing is still unsolved.

• Personalized medicine slowly taking shape (Reuters):

While advances are being made in a few areas, so-called pharmacogenetics will not change the commercial landscape for the bulk of pharmaceuticals for several years, drugmakers told the Reuters Health Summit in New York this week.

• Threats to Your Genetic Privacy (US News):

But let’s not wait until we have a hearing room filled with victims before taking action. As Collins warns, “The strategy to offer individual personalized medicine has a big cloud over its horizon. If we want a brighter healthcare future, we need to blow that cloud away.” He’s right. It’s time to get GINA out of the holding pen, one way or the other.

I finish this résumé with a funny video which tries to answer the question: Why Personalized Medicine? Especially with drugs such as Antidepressants which are often prescribed based on trial-and-error and objective criteria for succesful treatment outcome are lacking. (This movie is from a Dutch commercial from Eiffel)