How Genomics Can Benefit Us All

Healthy Conversations

It’s been more than 20 years since the human genome was first sequenced. And now, a new version that’s been updated with 47 men and women of diverse origins, including African Americans, East Asians, West Africans, and South Americans, among others, promises to benefit all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity or ancestry. This new version, called the “pangenome,” was announced earlier this month by the National Human Genome Research Institute, a government agency that funded the research.

On this episode of Healthy Conversations, Trish Brown, the Genomics and Precision Medicine Program Director for CVS Health, details for Dr. Kraft how we can translate genomics into access to care, and what’s the human impact, going forward. “So what we're capable of, now, in terms of isolating, finding DNA and what we can do with it at different stages is just incredible,” Trish notes. “We have next generation sequencing testing platforms where if you wanted to, you could sequence the entire human genome and then you use bioinformatic filters to just pull out of that what you think is relevant. And so those sorts of technological advances have really dropped the cost and really allowed for a broader set of testing.”

Learn more

• 6 Things to know about genetic testing
• The value of genetic testing