Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov;11(11):e1001699.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001699. Epub 2013 Nov 5.

Reflections on the cost of "low-cost" whole genome sequencing: framing the health policy debate

Timothy Caulfield  1 , Jim Evans, Amy McGuire, Christopher McCabe, Tania Bubela, Robert Cook-Deegan, Jennifer Fishman, Stuart Hogarth, Fiona A Miller, Vardit Ravitsky, Barbara Biesecker, Pascal Borry, Mildred K Cho, June C Carroll, Holly Etchegary, Yann Joly, Kazuto Kato, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Karen Rothenberg, Pamela Sankar, Michael J Szego, Pilar Ossorio, Daryl Pullman, Francois Rousseau, Wendy J Ungar, Brenda Wilson
Affiliations

Reflections on the cost of "low-cost" whole genome sequencing: framing the health policy debate

Timothy Caulfield et al. PLoS Biol. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

The cost of whole genome sequencing is dropping rapidly. There has been a great deal of enthusiasm about the potential for this technological advance to transform clinical care. Given the interest and significant investment in genomics, this seems an ideal time to consider what the evidence tells us about potential benefits and harms, particularly in the context of health care policy. The scale and pace of adoption of this powerful new technology should be driven by clinical need, clinical evidence, and a commitment to put patients at the centre of health care policy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Pasche B, Absher D (2011) Whole-genome sequencing: a step closer to personalized medicine. JAMA 305: 1596–1597. - PubMed
    1. Milner LC, Garrison NA, Magnus D, Cho M (2013) Genomics in the clinic: assessing the landscape of next-generation sequencing in diagnostic laboratories. In: American College of Medical Genetics Annual Meeting. Available: http://ww2.aievolution.com/acm1301/index.cfm?do=abs.viewAbs&abs=1663
    1. Hartocollis A (2013 April 21) Cancer centers racing to map patients' genes. The New York Times Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/health/patients-genes-seen-as-future-o....
    1. Leese S (2013 April 30) US institutions in genomic ‘arms race’. PHG Foundation Available: http://www.phgfoundation.org/news/13889/.
    1. Kilpivaara O, Aaltonen LA (2013) Diagnostic cancer genome sequencing and the contribution of germline variants. Science 339: 1559–1562. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources