What will sequencing your genome tell you?

In a recent Forbes op-ed, one journalist detailed her experience getting her genome sequenced through a consumer-targeted genome sequencing service called Understand Your Genome by Illumina. The test costs $2,900 and delivers a report on about 1,700 genes out of an estimated total of about 20,000.

The results of the journalist's tests were boring. About 6,000 variants in her DNA were analyzed but none of them were found to have any immediate clinical relevance. Some longer term potential health problems were found, however. She discovered that she has a genetic variation that makes her body a poor metabolizer of warfarin, a type of blood thinner, and also that she was a carrier for several conditions, including one that accounts for the breathing problems found in her family.

In 2015, genomic analysis is expensive for the average consumer and far from comprehensive, but if genomic technology progresses at anything close to the rate at which the smartphone has advanced, it won't be long before a sophisticated understanding of one's genetic makeup becomes commonplace.