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Norway Brings DNA Sequencing To National Healthcare
ananyo writes "Norway is set to become the first country to incorporate genome sequencing into its national health-care system. The Scandinavian nation, which has a population of 4.8 million, will use 'next-generation' DNA sequencers to trawl for mutations in tumors that might reveal which cancer treatments would be most effective. In its three-year pilot phase, the Norwegian Cancer Genomics Consortium will sequence the tumor genomes of 1,000 patients in the hope of influencing their treatments. It will also look at another 3,000 previously obtained tumor biopsies to get a better idea of the mutations in different cancers, and how they influence a patient's response to a drug. In a second phase, the project will build the laboratory, clinical and computing infrastructure needed to bring such care to the 25,000 Norwegians who are diagnosed with cancer each year. Similar projects are under way in the United Kingdom and at research hospitals in the United States, France and elsewhere. But Norway's will be among the first to look for tumor mutations using next-generation DNA sequencing rather than conventional genetic testing."
I agree that it's perhaps not the best idea for cancer genome sequencing, but current 2nd-generation sequencing should be beneficial for the standard human genome. Even at a cost of $10,000 per person, you may be able to substitute a single expensive drug for a substantially cheaper generic when knowing that a person has (or doesn't have) a particular mutation. As long as the sequencing is high enough quality (as you should get from a long paired-end Illumina run), it only needs to be done once, and then can be re-used for whatever new genetic discoveries come your way.
I've wondered for a couple of years now why drug companies aren't already doing this (or at least subsidising the cost of sequencing). Some drugs have been brought back from the brink of rejection via genetic tests, and given the high cost of drug research it makes sense to do a relatively cheap genome sequencing if it hasn't been done on a person previously. The cost of whole-genome (and whole-transcriptome) sequencing is now in the range where research institutes are starting to consider it as a routine operation, and it won't be long before it falls into the price range of a cost-conscious consumer.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Socialised healthcare has similar issues as well, make no mistake. If we all pay for our collective well-being, it stands to reason that we all have a duty to avoid health issues that incur costs, right? That means no alcohol, chocolate, fatty foods: these are bad for your health. No more dangerous sports like skiing. And since we're already working towards mandatory helmets while riding a bicycle, why not wear a helmet while walking? Anything might happen and then society would be out of pocket again on account of your carelessness.
Insurers of private healthcare love to quantify risk factors and charge a premium according to risk; DNA sequencing would be a dangerous tool in their hands. Socialised medicine on the other hand equalises risk and cannot discriminate on genetic or behavioral health risks, but it does want to reduce factors that increase that risk, by modifying our behaviour. So you could end up with a government that literally tells you when to pee, for health reasons. With private healthcare at least you'll have the insurers vs. the government (at least if your government doesn't kowtow to those insurers); in socialised medicine you have insurers and government openly on the same side, with the same goals. That scares me, and it already resulted in a number of creepy and far-reaching ideas for health-related laws in my country. Thankfully most got shot down, but with the cost burden increasing in these crappy economic times, that might change.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's good that everyone has access to healthcare over here, but socialised healthcare is not without its problems, and those problems are not all about costs.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
They do not like to pray cancer away like the civilized world.