What Happens When Genomics Meets Politics?

The number of people having their genomes sequenced could reach more than 100 million by 2025, researchers estimated. Policy-makers around the world started to realize the incredible potential in genomics for population health in the last 3-5 years, but there are huge question marks whether they can manage the use of this incredibly useful pool of data in an appropriate framework, with well-thought-out means, for the right purposes, meaning for the well-being of humans and communities in the present and the future. Here, we launched an article series to look at the countries with the most experience. Let’s start with a truly positive example: the fairytale from the digital republic: Estonia. Your whole-genome sequenced as a holiday special for $200? Currently, anyone can order a DNA test for full genome sequencing on their smartphone and pay with virtual wallets, Apple or Google Pay, for example, while sitting on the couch in their living room. 15 years ago, not a single ingredient of the previous sentence existed: no virtual wallets, no smartphones, and no sequenced genome. Okay, perhaps your couch would have been the same. The point is that technological progress has reached incredible heights in an absurdly short time – and that will likely accelerate in the years to come. Take whole-genome sequencing. While deciphering the secrets of the human DNA for the first time through the completion of the state-funded Human Genome Project took 15 years, today you can o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Future of Medicine Genomics Healthcare Policy data data privacy data security Estonia ethics Gene genetic genetics Genome genome sequencing health data personal genomics Personalized medicine population population genomic Source Type: blogs