NGS Expert Blog

Watch out the presentation of the SITN Boston talking about whole genome sequencing and its impact on personalised medicine.

Further recorded lectures given by graduate students at Harvard and focusing on hot topics in science research and news can be found at https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/seminar-archive-2012/. Enjoy!

With the advent of NGS came the promise of personalised medicine (PM) based on our unique genetic differences. The link below takes you to a seminar series from Harvard University which discusses the current status of NGS and its applications in a clinical setting.

There are many hurdles still to leap before PM is a mainstay of clinical diagnosis and treatment, reduction in cost, clinical grade databases, patient sceptisism and insurance implications to name but a few. However, we are at the begining of a revolution in clinical diagnostics and we cannot turn back now. The benefits of rapid diagnosis are obvious, provided we have the associated therapies to treat them. Otherwise it is just knowledge but without the power. There has been disappointingly slow progress in gene therapies and focus on this must also be maintained if the benefits of personalised medicine are to be realised. Furthermore,  in relation to a previous post – NGS and personalised medicine may also help characterise the complex relationship of disease and health, infection and immunological defense between ourselves and our personalised microbiome.