The Most Important Medical Question
The most important medical question as of December 2009 is the cost of reading one DNA letter (DNA base).
The human genome made up of 3 billion pairs of chemicals called bases (DNA letters) was fully decoded in 2003 in a $2.3 billion project. These DNA letters carry the instructions cells need to make proteins, tissues and organs.
Only, around 3% of these letters are coding. That means they are translated into proteins, tissues and organs. Now if you want to read all of the DNA letters the price is around $100,000.00-$50,000.00. If you concentrate on the coding portion the price is around $5000.
The price dropped tremendously within the last 6 years and it is continuing to drop within the next decade.
Governmental institutions as well as private companies are participating in this global venture. The U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute began a project last year to fully sequence 1,000 genomes at a cost of about $50 million, or $50,000 per sequence. Complete Genomics plans to sequence 20,000 genomes in 2010 alone.
Helicos, Illumina Inc., Applied Biosciences Group, and Danaher Corp. are competing equipment producers (DNA sequencers). Since the DNA letters will be read and interpreted by computational power, Google and Microsoft are biggest candidates for decoders.
By enabling cost-effective comparisons of genomes from thousands of individuals. The novel technology enable researchers to transform the way disease is studied, diagnosed and treated in turn leading to more accurate molecular diagnostics for cancer, heart, disease and others, improved drug therapies and personalized medical treatments.
When the DNA sequencing will be around $250 for an individual this will be a crucial test to be done. In the near future if you do not have your DNA sequencing test done you will stay out of the health system. There will be nothing a doctor can do for you without the DNA information in your flash disk. It will be even worse than running around without a health insurance.
In the near future, at least 2 billion out of 6 billion world population will have this test done. Therefore it is not surprising that investors such as, Deutsche Bank, Monsanto and various others are on the track.
