Diversification is a Good Thing

Daniel MacArthur follows up on Steven Pinker's NYT story about having his genome sequenced with a blog post on the diversification of consumer genomics. All four of the current consumer genomics companies have staked their claim, with 23andMe focusing on fun, deCodeMe on academics, Navigenics on medical accuracy, and Knome on boutique offering. A newcomer mentioned by Pinker piques MacArthur's curiosity: Counsyl, whose "universal carrier screen" will check parents to see if they carry genes that put their children at risk for more than a hundred serious diseases like cystic fibrosis and alpha thalassemia. "There's virtually no information out there in the public domain about Counsyl beyond a basic teaser site, but Pinker's description would suggest a new participant in the consumer genomics arena that falls heavily at the ‘medical’ end of the spectrum," MacArthur writes.