Personal Genetics is having a bit of a 1983 moment. Back then, the majority of Americans had never used a computer or heard the word “internet.” A year later, Apple launched the Mac and the rest, as they say, is history. Purveyors of personal genetics platforms—products that tell you exactly what’s in your DNA—say they are at a similar tipping point. The only question is: Who will be the Apple of individualized genomics?
The latest contender is Genos, a genetic sequencing startup that is unveiling its whole exome-sequencing service today. The hot, shiny object of the industry, this type of next-generation sequencing offers a complete profile of all the expressed genes (the ones that code for proteins) in your genome. While a growing number of targeted genetic testing kits are currently on the market (Color, Myriad, and 23andMe, to name a few), whole exome sequencing produces 50 to 100 times more data.
