23andMe on Video: Meet My Me-ome July 31, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in 23andMe, e-patient, Genetic testing, genetics, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Personalized medicine, Video, Web 2.0.add a comment
Jen S. McCabe from Health Management RX shared her genomic results through a nice video. It’s a smart way to present how such a direct-to-consumer genetic company works, but I’m not sure Jen should publish such data.
Here is how she collected the salive sample:
I got a free kit from Navigenics a few months ago, and I shared my experiences, but not the results.
Health Plans, Can You Make Changes Anytime You Want? July 31, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Video, Web 2.0.add a comment
Stay Smart, Stay Healthy published a new video (here are others).
Personalized Genetics News: Genetic Test Registry and Profiling July 28, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in 23andMe, Genetic testing, Genome, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Navigenics, Personalized medicine, Video, Web 2.0.add a comment
I try to keep you really up-to-date about news and announcements focusing on personalized genetics on Gene Genie, but I must share some other articles with you now.
- Navigenics reduced the price of its kit to 999$. You may also be interested in seeing the Navigenics HQ of which I published some images I took myself in Redwood, CA.
- 23andMe Research Revolution: “23andMe wants to advance genetic research into diseases that affect countless people, and make healthcare more personalized. The Research Revolution program is a way of kicking off that effort by seeding an inaugural set of communities focused on diseases. These diseases were chosen in part because we have identified pre-existing communities that have developed around them — we are excited to expand this list, and welcome feedback about future additions.”
- Genetic Alliance calls for a genetic test registry (Genetic Future): “…the advocacy group Genetic Alliance is lobbying the FDA for the construction of a public registry of genetic tests”
- Personal Profiling (Science Progress):
And as with any expensive technology, there is a concern that the benefits may only be available to those that can afford it, as DTC tests currently run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Yet the bigger divide, Lee suggests, may not be access to sequence information, but access to educational and interpretive information about genetic risk factors—for patients, consumers, and heath care providers alike.
Scienceroll.com: Weekly Introduction July 28, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine.add a comment
I would like to share my favourite and ongoing projects with you so I can give you a proper introduction to Scienceroll.com. You can also find me on Twitter or on Friendfeed.
Medicine 2.0 University Course: This is the second semester of the first university course that focuses on web 2.0 and medicine for medical students. Last semester, almost 50 students attended the 20 slideshows through 10 weeks and they filled a survey out before and after the course. I launched the second semester for English-speaking students (February – May, 2009). I’m open to launch the same course in Second Life.
Medicine 2.0 Collection: I maintain the biggest collection of links and posts focusing on web 2.0 and medicine.
Webicina.com is my service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era by providing them with e-courses, consulting and personalized packages.
PeRSSonalized Medicine is a free tool that lets you select your favourite resources and read the latest news and articles in one personalized place. You can create your own “medical journal” and as we are totally open to suggestions, let us add the journals, blogs and websites that you would like to follow.
Scienceroll Search is a personalized medical search engine powered by PolyMeta search and clustering engine. You can choose which databases to search in and which one to exclude from your list. It works with well-known medical search engines and databases and we’re totally open to add new ones or remove those you don’t really like.
Medicine 2.0 Blog Carnival and Microvarnival: The blog carnival focusing on web 2.0 and medicine. Let me know if you have a submission or if you want to host an edition.
Gene Genie is the blog carnival of genes, personalized genomics and gene-related diseases. Our plan is to cover the whole genome before 2082 (it means 14-15 genes every two weeks). Let me know if you have a submission or if you want to host an edition.
List of biomedical and scientific community sites: More than 30 communities with links, descriptions and screenshots.
List of Biomedical video sites: Almost 40 sites featuring scientific or medical videos and videocasts.
Scienceroll Search: New Resource July 28, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medical Search, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Scienceroll Search, Web 2.0.add a comment
Scienceroll Search is a personalized medical search engine powered by PolyMeta search and clustering engine. You can choose which databases to search in and which one to exclude from your list. It works with well-known medical search engines and databases and we’re totally open to add new ones or remove those you don’t really like.
The newest addition is Health Sciences Online.
Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
Addictomatic: Screening the whole web July 27, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medical Search, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0, Webicina.add a comment
If you want to find videos, Twitter messages, posts, news, etc. focusing on specific issue, here is Addictomatic.
If you’re looking for the same kind of information regarding medical issues but only from selected, quality resources, that’s what we are doing for free on Webicina.com.
That’s what we have so far:
What’s on the Web? (26 July, 2009) July 26, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Medicine 2.0, science, Telemedicine, Web 2.0, What's on the web?, Wiki.add a comment
- 9 Killer Telemedicine Apps That Will Revolutionize Healthcare (Soliant Health): Including Skype, mobile microscopes and WebCam MD.
- Innovation: Is the future of healthcare online? (New Scientist): Including telemedicine, Twitter, Facebook
- The Wonderful World of Big Science (Neatorama): From genomes to the space.
Why are we using wiki technology as a publishing platform? Wikis enable a network of users to edit documents collaboratively and on an ongoing basis. This may be particularly relevant to scoping and systematic reviews, which, depending on their area of focus, can quickly become outdated as new studies are published. A wiki — a potentially revolutionary tool for knowledge transfer — makes it possible to keep reviews as current and relevant as possible. Just as knowledge evolves in medicine, a wiki evolves as new evidence emerges and is incorporated into it.
- The Open Laboratory: Interview with Bora Zivkovic (Next Generation Science)
The Power of Customer Service in Genetic Testing: Comparison July 26, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in 23andMe, Genetic testing, genetics, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Navigenics, Personalized medicine, Web 2.0.5 comments
The biggest problem with direct-to-consumer genetic testing is that it’s extremely hard for laypeople (and their doctors) to analyze the results properly. That’s why they need a genetic counselor who can help with the analysis and the interpretation of genomic risk factors even if the majority of these results cannot be used in medical decision-making. I got a test kit from Navigenics a few months ago. I could call their genetic counselor if I need help or I could contact them through e-mail and Twitter. This made me think about the accuracy and speed of the customer services of these companies. According to my experiences, when I asked a question:
- Navigenics replied in less than an hour via Twitter or e-mail.
- DecodeMe replied in less than a week via e-mail.
- Pathway Genomics haven‘t replied in 4 weeks.
Customer service is more important than anything in this field and if I can call a genetic counselor, why I cannot call them through Skype or have a private chat via videoconferencing (e.g. American Well)? This is an issue where all the companies have to improve a lot…
Whole-Genome Sequencing: Any Useful Data? July 26, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in 1000$ Genome, Genetic screening, Genome, Personalized medicine, Scifoo.3 comments
I met George Church at this year’s Scifoo event in San Francisco and we talked about how useful the data is that was obtained from whole genome sequencing methods. There are almost 50 people in the world right now whose genomes were sequenced like that but the number of useful genomes is very low (e.g. who made it public) . That’s one reason why the ClinSeq project is really promosing.
ClinSeq is a pilot project to investigate the use of whole-genome sequencing as a tool for clinical research. By piloting the acquisition of large amounts of DNA sequence data from individual human subjects, we are fostering the development of hypothesis-generating approaches for performing research in genomic medicine, including the exploration of issues related to the genetic architecture of disease, implementation of genomic technology, informed consent, disclosure of genetic information, and archiving, analyzing, and displaying sequence data.
In the initial phase of ClinSeq, we are enrolling roughly 1,000 participants; the evaluation of each includes obtaining a detailed family and medical history as well as a clinical evaluation. The participants are being consented broadly for research on many traits and for whole-genome sequencing. Initially, Sanger-based sequencing of 300-400 genes thought to be relevant to atherosclerosis is being performed, with the resulting data analyzed for rare, high-penetrance variants associated with specific clinical traits.
He also mentioned the 1000$ genome project and the unofficial estimation is that now it’s possible to sequence a person’s genome for under 5000$ and the 1000$ aim can become a reality at the end of this year.
The Future Health 100 July 26, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, List, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0, Webicina.3 comments
The Team of Healthspottr created a list of 100 people who play role in the movement of Health 2.0: The Future Health 100. For my biggest pleasure, I’m included in the list next to Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder of 23andMe and the reason is Webicina.com, the first medical web 2.0 guidance service I founded and manage in order to help empowered patients and open-minded doctors enter the web 2.0 world.
