Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Algorithm Lets Scientists Better Calculate Person's Chances Of Getting Five Serious Health Conditions
The New York Times: Clues To Your Health Are Hidden At 6.6 Million Spots In Your DNA
Scientists have created a powerful new tool to calculate a person’s inherited risks for heart disease, breast cancer and three other serious conditions. By surveying changes in DNA at 6.6 million places in the human genome, investigators at the Broad Institute and Harvard University were able to identify many more people at risk than do the usual genetic tests, which take into account very few genes. (Kolata, 8/13)
The Associated Press: Multi-Gene Test May Find Risk For Heart Disease And More
"What I foresee is in five years, each person will know this risk number, this 'polygenic risk score,' similar to the way each person knows his or her cholesterol," said Dr. Sekar Kathiresan who led the research team from the Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. (Neergaard, 8/13)
