How many SNPs does it take to provide a definitive disease risk profile? Quite a few, apparently, as companies continue to pile them higher and deeper into genetic tests. Firms have bet that these tests will be widely adopted by physicians and the public to predict everything from risk of lung cancer among smokers, to prostate cancer, to Alzheimer’s disease, to baldness.
All told, about three dozen companies claim that they can provide genetic testing that predicts an individual’s risk of developing almost everything. “There is a bit of a wild wild west going on in terms of some of the DNA testing that’s out there,” said Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., the newly appointed NIH head, in an interview with CBS News in September 2008 with regard to a new offering from Smart Genetics purporting to predict susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
“Some of it is done by reputable companies, but there are some that are even unscrupulous who will offer you tests or DNA variations that, frankly, you’re not sure what they mean at all.” Smart Genetics stopped offering its controversial Alzheimer’s Mirror genetic test just eight months after introducing it, and the company subsequently shut its doors.
The Ones Doing the Testing
Major players include deCODE genetics, Navigenics, 23andMe, and Proactive Genomics. In January Proactive Genomics made available a $300 prostate cancer genetic test based on five SNPs, called Focus5. deCODE’s $500 PrCa test was announced less than a month later, for analyzying eight SNPs. Navigenics offers a personalized DNA profile, explained by a genetic counselor, for $2,500. 23andMe and deCODE also advertise their own versions of such profiles.
As recent as January, deCODEme, a division of deCODE genetics, launched two new services, one designed to detect genetic variations associated with cardiovascular diseases and a screen to detect genetic variations linked to the risk of developing various cancers. At $195 and $225, respectively, the new tests cost less than the company’s genome-wide screen, which for $985 assesses genetic risk for 34 diseases and traits ranging from diabetes to male-pattern baldness. deCODE president and founder, Kari Stefansson, M.D., said that the company wanted to give people an opportunity to buy tests that would address their specific needs.
On September 17, the company received a notice from Nasdaq stating that it was not in compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule. deCODE got a slight bump on September 20 after reporting that it and multinational collaborators had discovered four novel SNPs conferring increased risk of prostate cancer.
This marked the sixth set of prostate cancer risk factors the company has found. “Using our ability to put these SNPs in a population-wide context, we show that it is now possible to identify those who are at more than a 30% increased lifetime risk, independent of other standard risk factors such as age and family history,” Dr. Steffanson noted.
On September 30, however, deCODE decided to closed its Illinois facility, cutting 60 positions and estimates savings to be about $1.5 million.
Material is taken from the link below.For more detail just click the link below.
www.genengnews.com
http://www.genengnews.com/specialreports/sritem.aspx?oid=65516124
Saturday, October 17, 2009
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