[ExI] The Genome Generation: The case for having your genes sequenced

Max More max at maxmore.com
Wed Dec 16 15:30:09 UTC 2009


Nothing new here, really, but a couple of nice excerpts:

The Genome Generation
The case for having your genes sequenced

>The success of the Human Genome Project led people to speculate that 
>someday every person would have his or her genome sequenced. At a 
>cost of billions per genome, of course, it was an impossible dream. 
>But beginning in 2004, a wave of next-generation sequencing 
>technologies emerged, and costs began to drop 10-fold each year. 
>Today we can sequence a million individuals' genomes for what it 
>would have cost to sequence one person's genome five years ago. At a 
>current cost of $5,000, it's become so inexpensive that some 
>business models project that personal genome sequencing could be 
>provided to individuals for free by third parties (insurers, 
>employers, governments) who might be able to use the information 
>from the sequencing as a way to reduce health-care costs. No matter 
>who pays for it, as technology improves, the cost will continue to 
>go down, likely to $100 per genome, and lower.


>The message is not "Here's your destiny. Get used to it!" Instead, 
>it's "Here's your destiny, and you can do something about it!"

http://www.newsweek.com/id/226963


-------------------------------------
Max More, Ph.D.
Strategic Philosopher
Extropy Institute Founder
www.maxmore.com
max at maxmore.com
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