The Minority Report

I have nothing more to add to this story but read what I wrote about gene sequencing from the other day. Like the story says, I also believe that it won’t be the technological issues that slow this down but the human issues. The Christian right or someone other wack job fringe group will mail us all copies of Gattaca.

The executive summary: Jay Flatley, CEO of genomic technology manufacturer Illumina, predicts that whole-genome sequencing of newborns will become routine within a decade.

Flatley has an obvious financial interest in this prediction coming true, since Illumina provides the most commercially successful next-generation sequencing platform currently on the market, the Genome Analyzer, and has recently invested heavily in emerging “third-generation” sequencing technologies (by purchasing Avantome, and signing an $18M deal with Oxford Nanopore). Illumina also apparently plans to launch a commercial whole-genome sequencing service for $10,000-$20,000 within the next two years, going up against newcomer Complete Genomics’ $5000 service. Routine whole-genome sequencing of every baby born in developed nations would provide a massive and secure market for Illumina’s products.

Genetic Future : Routine whole-genome sequencing of babies by 2019?

Paul Raven covers some of the ethics more here:

that makes light of a potentially sticky ethical quagmire, though; we won’t get to see everything that’s hidden in Pandora’s box until we actually open the lid. Let’s just hope we’ve gotten over our little global obsession with copyright and intellectual property by the time the street-corner sequencer shacks open for business, eh?

Gattaca becomes reality – all babies to be DNA sequenced at birth by 2020? | Blog | Futurismic