Local genomes
Some of my colleagues have had their genomes scanned as part of the Duke Personal Variome Project:
Willard, though not a participant in the study, said he has had his genome analyzed several times, revealing that he is at a greater risk of developing cancer. Still, he knew of this risk before he ever submitted blood or spit to a laboratory-he was diagnosed with colon cancer and also has a family history of the disease.
“Getting colon cancer changed my lifestyle,” he said. “My genome testing hasn’t changed my lifestyle… but I’m already in this behavioral mindset of thinking about cancer risk and trying to modify behavior to reduce that risk in a very general way.”
Family history of a disease can be just as indicative of one’s chance of getting the disease as genomic testing, Willard said. But he added that for some people, the results of a genetic test might spur them to take care of their health in a way that family history does not.
“As people think about what DNA means and about what the genome means, there really is a sense that this is much more directive and impactful than the generic ‘Uncle Joe had heart disease,’” he said.
I work as an Assistant Professor in the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (although this site and its content are my own).
In 2007 I became the fourth subject in Harvard geneticist George Church's Personal Genome Project. As the PGP moves forward, I am chronicling the dawn of personal genomics, that is, people obtaining their genomic information for whatever reason(s) and figuring out what to do with it. I am interested in the relevant technologies and especially the attendant privacy and other ethical/legal/social issues.
This blog may also discuss some of my non-genome interests or, to paraphrase Dwight Yoakam, "Guitars, Cadillacs, hillbilly music, etc etc."
The header image comes from the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's multimedia performance piece, "Ferocious Beauty: Genome."
October 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
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