8 replies to this topic

[dubrontsidah]

I beleive the 23andMe is the $200 test that doesn't sequence you entirely, but you can get yourself fully sequenced for about a thousand dollars; I could be wrong, perhaps my memory is failing me and my piracetam hasn't started to work .

Why would I want to get fully sequenced, as opposed to what 23andMe does?

Why would I want to get sequenced at all?

[niner]

You'd want to get sequenced to learn your ApoE genotype, which will tell you what sort of diet may kill you versus help you. You can find out if you have specific mutations that cause you to be unable to use normal folate, necessitating a folate analog that's further down the pathway. In fact, there's a bunch of methylation-related SNPs that might be interesting. Lots of other stuff as well.

23andMe is only $99 now for about a million SNPs. These are the parts of DNA where differences are normally found. A full sequence could figure out if you have a particular obscure genetic defect, but only if you have a way to analyze the data. The data from 23andMe is analyzed (to some extent) for you, but you can download it and run it through Promethease for a more thorough analysis.

I think 23andMe is totally worth it, as long as you aren't poor. For most people, I'm not convinced that a full sequence will be all that useful. This will undoubtedly change in the future. I'd do 23andMe now, and get a full scan later when it proves to be generally useful.

[nowayout]

There is very little reason for it right now. Apart from certain well-known diseases (such as Huntington's) we can tell almost nothing for sure from genes that can't be better diagnosed via conventional biomarker blood tests. Want to know if you are prone to high cholesterol? better to have a lipid panel. Want to know how you respond to macronutrients? Better to experiment, because 23andme's suggestions are as likely to be wrong as they are to be right. Maybe in 5-10 years it will be worth it (and much cheaper then) but not now.

I did 23andme (+promethease) just for laughs and giggles. It has been less interesting than I thought it would be and for practical decisions completely useless.

[kismet]

There is very little reason for it right now.

Unfortunately, that sums it up. Better spend the 1000$ on booze, hookers -- or the SENS-Foundation.

[niner]

I'd spend $901 on booze and hookers, and $99 on 23andMe. How do you find out your ApoE genotype by "experiment"? You can't.

[nowayout]

I'd spend $901 on booze and hookers, and $99 on 23andMe. How do you find out your ApoE genotype by "experiment"? You can't.

I think you may be assigning too much significance to ApoE genotype, too much weight to what we think we know about it and and to what we may suppose we can do about it.

[1kgcoffee]

Personalized medicine hasn't arrived, therefore you don't have too much to gain besides the coolness factor. We can sequence a genome, but not yet understand all of the implications. I expect one day there will be software to interpret genome in its entirety, interplay and all, and spit out a concise report of the important bits. In the meantime we have 23andme and also promethease to help interpret a large chunk. Just go for 23andme if curious. It will confirm lots what you already know about yourself and then some.. Besides what niner pointed out, it may also be useful if you plan on having a baby.

Edited by 1kgcoffee, 11 April 2013 - 01:02 AM.

[niner]

I'd spend $901 on booze and hookers, and $99 on 23andMe. How do you find out your ApoE genotype by "experiment"? You can't.

I think you may be assigning too much significance to ApoE genotype, too much weight to what we think we know about it and and to what we may suppose we can do about it.

I don't feel like dredging up the references, but I'm sure you're able to if interested. I think you're letting your cynicism get the better of you on this. ApoE is highly useful knowledge, particularly if you are ApoE 2 or 4. Ignore at your peril; it's your life.

[ymc]

Personalized medicine hasn't arrived, therefore you don't have too much to gain besides the coolness factor. We can sequence a genome, but not yet understand all of the implications. I expect one day there will be software to interpret genome in its entirety, interplay and all, and spit out a concise report of the important bits. In the meantime we have 23andme and also promethease to help interpret a large chunk. Just go for 23andme if curious. It will confirm lots what you already know about yourself and then some.. Besides what niner pointed out, it may also be useful if you plan on having a baby.

I think we know enough about our genome to make exome sequencing worth a grand. But of course, if u don't know how to interpret the data, then it means not much to u.