genomeboy.com

The revolution continues…

Dr. Tenenbaum says patients can get started on a project with as little as $50,000 to $100,000. Sums like that, for example, could fund the creation of a molecular profile of a tumor to try to predict what combination of already approved drugs might be effective. If results proved promising, more money could be raised to set up a full-blown virtual biotech — with a budget in the millions of dollars — that might test cocktails of therapies in animal models and try grouping patients into subtypes to better tailor treatments for them, among other projects.

I can only hope that this is still active, because I’m sure every homeless hospital patient in New York would be glad to know that his/her genome is worth five gallons of gas, four Sunday Times, three six packs, and a partridge in a freaking pear tree.

The hospital plans to offer a $20 incentive to any patient who donates an eight-milliliter vial of blood to a new Biobank, a warehouse of DNA and plasma that is a central component of the hospital’s Institute for Personalized Medicine. “Personalized medicine,” an approach that incorporates molecular analysis into managing a patient’s health, has been touted as the future of medicine ever since scientists completed the map of the human genome in 2003.

Woo hoo! Muchos gracias, Mt. Sinai! Can I give 16 mls and get $40? Can I bring my kids in, too? How much for my dog’s lymphocytes?