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Fifteen years ago, the first sequencing of a human genome was declared complete, at a cost of about $2.7 billion. While the price tag for whole-genome sequencing has fallen considerably since then, it’s still far less affordable than typical direct-to-consumer genetic tests, which analyze hundreds of thousands of telling sites in the genome, rather than sifting through all 3 billion of its base pairs. A platform, announced by the company Nebula Genomics, now aims to change that by connecting individuals with researchers who will pay for the genome sequencing in exchange for a look at the results.
“This is the first step in realizing a world in which individuals control and are compensated for use of their genetic data by medical researchers,” Nebula cofounder George Church, who is also a geneticist at Harvard Medical School and MIT, says in a press release sent to The Scientist. ...
