The ever decreasing price of genome sequencing may lead to some new "habits," The Motley Fool writes.
While it notes that newborns in the US today are screened for about a dozen conditions, infants may soon have their whole genomes sequenced and analyzed for a lot more. This, the Fool says, may widen the usefulness of disease screening and enable parents and doctors to keep an eye on or take preventive measures against later onset diseases. And, it adds, such sequencing or periodic checks will continue during a person's life to gauge the effect of environmental factors. And when disease like cancer strikes, that too would be sequenced to find the best drugs to target that particular disease.
It won't stop there, the Fool adds, as everyday products will also be influenced by genomic insights: Procter and Gamble has sequenced the fungus behind most types of dandruff which could inform how it makes shampoo.
And this means opportunity of investors, according to The Motley Fool. "While investments have historically been confined to a limited number of players who have acted as gatekeepers for related technologies … cheaper sequencing will broaden access and allow multiple companies, some of which you may never have considered (i.e. Procter & Gamble), to share in the benefits," it says.