Linda in the San Juans
The first successful “sequencing” of the human genome was
announced 16 years ago. It had taken
years, cost $400 million, and required a machine the size of a phone
booth. But science (well, technology)
stumbles on. An NIH Directors blog just
announced that an even better job can now be accomplished using a device no
bigger than the gadget I use to trim my beard.
Moreover, the cost now is about $23,000 and takes a matter of hours. Hell, if you are an Alaskan (they can fix
anything), with a Ph.D in physics, you can buy a kit for $1000 and build your
own!
What does this have to do with ovarian cancer? Not much, directly. However, as genetic sequencing grows quicker
and cheaper, the argument that wholesale testing of the entire female
population for suspicious mutations grows progressively weaker.
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