100,000 Californians To Be Gene Sequenced

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 21, 2009 @04:33AM from the homing-in-on-the-prius-gene dept.

eldavojohn writes "A hundred thousand elderly Californians (average age 65) will be gene sequenced by the state using samples of their saliva. This will be the first time such a large group has had their genes sequenced, and it is hoped to be a goldmine for genetic maladies — from cardiovascular diseases to diabetes to even the diseases associated with aging. Kaiser Permanente patients will be involved, and they are aiming to have half a million samples ready by 2013. Let's hope that they got permission from the patients' doctors first."

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Not sequencing by Anonymous Coward · 2009-10-21 04:38 · Score: 5, Informative

This not (gene or genome) sequencing. Rather, it picks up single nucleotide changes (SNPs). Still valuable information, but no new mutation will be discovered with this method.
Sequencing would be a couple of orders of magnitude more expensive.
Re:Damned sure glad... by SUB7IME · 2009-10-21 06:13 · Score: 5, Informative

This is why we passed GINA: http://www.genome.gov/24519851