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Aug 19, 2009

Despite its well-received genome-wide association scan papers, DeCode Genetics is on the brink of extinction, says Technology Review. According to the article, DeCode has spent more than $600 million, never made a profit, and has $3.7 million left as its stock hovers at 57 cents, down from $29 when the company first launched. Founder Kari Stefansson recently told investors that he is re-envisioning DeCode as a gene-based diagnostics company. Tech Review's David Ewing Duncan says this may not be the end. "As for the possible demise of its research operation, I suspect that DeCode's high-profile collaborators in academia will come to the rescue if all else fails. Recent papers list the likes of the National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom as financial supporters of individual studies," Duncan writes.

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The Scan

Study Tracks Responses in Patients Pursuing Polygenic Risk Score Profiling

Using interviews, researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics qualitatively assess individuals' motivations for, and experiences with, direct-to-consumer polygenic risk score testing.

EHR Quality Improvement Study Detects Demographic-Related Deficiencies in Cancer Family History Data

In a retrospective analysis in JAMA Network Open, researchers find that sex, ethnicity, language, and other features coincide with the quality of cancer family history information in a patient's record.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Linked to Gut Microbiome Community Structure Gradient in Meta-Analysis

Bringing together data from prior studies, researchers in Genome Biology track down microbial taxa and a population structure gradient with ties to ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.

Ancient Greek Army Ancestry Highlights Mercenary Role in Historical Migrations

By profiling genomic patterns in 5th century samples from in and around Himera, researchers saw diverse ancestry in Greek army representatives in the region, as they report in PNAS.