DailyDirt: What Are We Going To Do With All This Genetic Information?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Apr 6th 2015 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Genomic sequencing is becoming more readily available and cheaper by the minute. It's not quite as easy as it looks on TV (ie. we don't have a Star Trek tricorder just yet), but minuscule amounts of DNA are revealing a vast amount of information about our health and our ancestors. This treasure trove of data is literally lying around everywhere just waiting to be collected.

The genetic information of 2,636 Icelanders has helped researchers more accurately pin down when the father of all humanity lived -- some time between 174,000 and 321,000 years ago. Our mitochondrial Eve is estimated to have lived about 200,000 years ago. However, our most recent common ancestor (MRCA) likely lived just 2,000-4,000 years ago. [url]
A routine blood test can determine the sex of a baby just 7 weeks into a pregnancy. Can we expect people to use the results of these tests responsibly? How accurate do these tests really need to be? [url]
A diagnostic test for cancer based on a simple blood test could save a lot of time, money and stress. The Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity (LGS) test is still in clinical trials, but early results suggest it might be possible to detect cancer or pre-cancerous conditions without requiring biopsies. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, if you have some spare change (or more) and would like to support Techdirt, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: blood tests, cancer, data, dna, genetics, genomic sequencing, health, icelanders, lgs test, lymphocyte genome sensitivity test, mitochondrial eve, mrca

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Anonymous Coward, 6 Apr 2015 @ 5:31pm

Er, typo?
"our most recent common ancestor (MRCA) likely lived just 2,000-4,000 years ago."

Considering Jewish people can all trace their ancestry back at least 2500 years, I'm guessing that an MRCA is probably further out than that, no matter how many children Ghengis Khan had. Even 4,000 years is pushing it, but is somewhat more believable.

I can see some problems if our Eve was 200,000 years ago and our Adam was off by even 100 years as well... unless people used to live significantly longer lifespans.
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- orbitalinsertion (profile), 6 Apr 2015 @ 6:00pm
  
  Re: Er, typo?
  The human MRCA is based on a mathematical model and a lot of assumptions, but largely the date may seem far off because MRCA probably doesn't mean what you think it means.
  
  Your "Adam" and "Eve" present absolutely no problems at all, however. Why would they have to lie anywhere near each other in time?
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