Personalized Medicine to Head off Disease

Molecular self-tracking shows promise in disease prevention; however, is it worth the trouble, ethical dilemmas, and cost?  In a paper published March 16, 2012, Michael Snyder and his colleagues at Stanford University recounted the results of the detailed molecular tracking Snyder went through over a period of 2.5 years. Regular blood samples have allowed microscopic tracking of different molecules, including proteins, hormones, and mutated genes. Snyder was able to see his vulnerability to type 2 diabetes before he actually developed the disease. He was able to take preventative measures such as healthy eating and exercise; however he was not able to actually stop onset of his diabetes. The cost of the analysis including genomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics, along with immune system measures was quite steep. The cost of collecting molecular data from each blood sample was about $2500, not including the analysis or equipment setup costs. Snyder predicts these costs could be significantly lowered in the future as these studies become common medical procedures.

This multilayer analysis allows for geneticists to see how the genes interact with their environment in order to detect abnormalities. One challenge for this type of analysis is finding people who can actually interpret the data collected and turn it into something meaningful. Snyder and his colleagues integrated 40,000 pieces of data collected over irregular periods of time. The team hopes to narrow down the data to only the most revealing markers. Snyder’s next research goal is to do a similar analysis of 250 people at elevated risk for diabetes in order for him to watch the disease develop. Preliminary research is being performed on people with other common diseases like asthma, and with more complex disorders like schizophrenia and autism. Additional measures that he wants to add are those that will detect changes relating to aging and environmental exposure to toxins. The applications of the research are plentiful. Snyder believes personalized molecular tracking is the future of medicine and will lead to an analysis at birth of the full range of molecular information, followed by analysis every six months. A full blood work up every six months for a person to see their predisposition to develop certain diseases seems like it would drive society into a state of paranoia about their health, rather than actually help them. The promise of disease prevention is nice, but the cost and controversy do not seem worth the information attained. 

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/39924/page1/