Personal genomics 101
I should back up for a minute; I don’t want to assume that everyone is already hip to the PGP and the broader concept of personal genomics or why they should give a transgenic rat’s patootie. Fortunately Dana Waring and Jack Bateman from Ting Wu’s lab at Harvard have created a website that does much of the heavy lifting by taking up questions like these: What is personal genomics? What will it mean for medicine? What are the risks and benefits? What are the ethical issues? What are the technologies behind it and when will all of this become reality? The site is already a useful primer on personal genomics for the newbie; I suspect it will soon become much more.
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."
August 20th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Misha - Thanks for the mention and congrats on the new blog. You hit the nail on the head - its meant to introduce the concept of personal genetics and the potential risks and benefits, and also serve as a basis for the workshops we do for high school and college students. We aim to specifically engage the younger generation of people who will really have to live with the good and bad of personal genomics.
As the Personal Genome Project gets rolling, the ethical, legal, and sociological questions will no longer be theorhetical, but very real for the participants and their families. Glad you are willing to go first, and are letting us in on your story. Will surely be a fascinating ride.
Dana
September 6th, 2007 at 7:02 am
[…] I recently had the opportunity to talk with Dana Waring, a member of Ting Wu’s lab at Harvard and one of the creators/caretakers of the pgEd, the Personal Genetics Education Project. It was a fascinating conversation about the future of personal genetics and the dire need for more education of the public in this field. You can see a few recent mentions of the pgEd from other members of the DNA Network - EyeonDNA, and genomeboy.com. […]