Personal Genome Project

Back in June I launched a new blog, Genomes Unzipped, together with a group of colleagues and friends with expertise in various areas of genetics. At the time I made a rather cryptic comment about "planning much bigger things for the site over the next few months". Today I announced what I meant by that: from today, all of the 12 members of Genomes Unzipped - including my wife and I - will be releasing their own results from a variety of genetic tests, online, for anyone to access. Initially those results consist of data from one company (23andMe) for all 12 members; deCODEme for one member…
Back in June I launched a new blog, Genomes Unzipped, together with a group of colleagues and friends with expertise in various areas of genetics. At the time I made a rather cryptic comment about "planning much bigger things for the site over the next few months". Today I announced what I meant by that: from today, all of the 12 members of Genomes Unzipped - including my wife and I - will be releasing their own results from a variety of genetic tests, online, for anyone to access. Initially those results consist of data from one company (23andMe) for all 12 members; deCODEme for one member…
Ozzy Osbourne, preparing to grasp the meaning of his genome. There's been much attention lately to the failure of genomics advances to create many medical advances. From rock'n'roll comes  hope. THE mystery of why Ozzy Osbourne is still alive after decades of drug and alcohol abuse may finally be solved. The 61-year-old former Black Sabbath lead singer â who this week begins his health advice column in The Sunday Times Magazine â is to become one of only a few people in the world to have his full genome sequenced. In addition to giving Osbourne information that could help prevent…
The Personal Genome Project, an initiative founded by George Church that ultimately seeks to sequence the complete genomes of 100,000 people, has called for the next wave of volunteers. The PGP will sequence your genome and give you back the data for the bargain-basement price of zero dollars (not bad compared to the $68,000 that the Knome auction is starting at). The benefits to volunteers are straightforward: you get access to your own genome sequence before most human beings on the planet, and you get the warm fuzzy glow that comes with benefiting humanity. I'm not being at all sarcastic…
Emily Singer has a fantastic article in MIT's Technology Review reviewing the current state of play in human genomics. A curious highlight for me was this panel of mug-shots from the PGP-10, the 10 high-profile volunteers currently having their genomes sequenced as part of the Personal Genome Project:Top row from left: Misha Angrist, Keith Batchelder, George Church, Esther Dyson, Rosalynn Gill.Bottom row from left: John Halamka, Stanley Lapidus, Kirk Maxey, Steven Pinker, James Sherley. Links for each participant are to their profile on the PGP website, which includes information on medical…
The promise of release of raw sequence data files from the first 10 Personal Genome Project volunteers certainly caused a media stir (see the round-up by the PGP's own Jason Bobe), but the actual released data are pretty underwhelming. So far raw sequence data files have been posted on the PGP profile sites of only four of the ten volunteers: George Church, John Halamka, Esther Dyson and James Sherley. The files are the result of targeted resequencing of a proportion (perhaps 20%) of the protein-coding regions of the genome (called exons, collectively the exome). Although a relatively small…
The first 10 participants of the ground-breaking Personal Genome Project (PGP) will be receiving a hefty chunk of data today: the sequence of the protein-coding regions from many of their genes (collectively known as the "exome"). And if all goes according to plan, they'll soon be dumping all of that data on the web for anyone to access. The PGP is an audacious endeavour led by Harvard's George Church (recently profiled in Wired). The ultimate goal of the Project is to sequence the entire genomes of 100,000 volunteers, and release both genetic and medical data from those volunteers to the…
Last week, while attending the ISB "DNA of Innovation" symposium in honor of Lee Hood's 70th birthday, I decided to try live-blogging for the first time. Unbeknownst to others in the audience, except my husband, I quietly typed away, collecting notes and uploading impressions. But battery power has its limits, even when I have more notes to share. And despite all the fascinating speakers, I have notes enough to describe just one more. The personal genome days have only just begun, but George Church is already looking into the future. In a true "Lee Hood style tour de force" Church talked…