The advent of personal genome sequencing

Rapid technological advances are decreasing DNA sequencing costs and making it practical to undertake complete human genome sequencing on a large scale for the first time. Disease studies that involve sequencing hundreds of patient genomes are underway. The all-inclusive sequencing price per genome is expected to reach $1000 over the next few years and will likely decline further in the following years. This dramatic price decline will herald widespread personal genome sequencing and lead to significant improvements in human health and reduced health care costs. Key to realizing these benefits will be medical genomics' and systems biology's success in providing increasing contextual interpretation of biological and medical effects of the detected sequence variants in a genome. Given the substantial potential benefits and the manageability of the health and discrimination risks involved with the possible misuse of this information, we propose that governments and insurance companies support or even require personal genome sequencing. Critical to the widespread acceptance of personal genome sequencing, however, will be the need to educate physicians and the public about the realistic benefits and risks of such an analysis to prevent overinterpretation and misuse of this valuable information. Genet Med 2011: 13(3): 188-190.