yikes

i just came across mention of the company 23andMe on blogTO. if you don't mind swabbing your cheek for a little skin and saliva, they will sequence your genome for the not unreasonable price of $999 USD. so, you can now spend money to figure out whether you have certain versions of certain genes, and whether these certain versions of the genes predispose you to developing certain disorders, cancers, or colours of hair.

interesting. despite my initial shock and trepidation, i can see this pushing the envelope a little further for personalized medicine. once people realize that they can gain access to their genome, the medical community will need to read up and take this information into account when diagnosing and treating.

in the mean time, i'll be interested to hear about the sorts of people who seek out this information just for the sake of it. bring on the genetic interpretation blogs and wikis!