Uc Science Today

Genome sequencing, which is figuring out the order of genetic letters in your DNA code, will most likely become a standard testing procedure in the next decades. This, according scientist Diane Dickel of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This will help identify diseases you might be prone to. "We’ll continue to accelerate people getting the whole genome sequencing as a routine type of genetic testing rather than what previously been done which is testing a few genes for mutations.” Now, doctors mostly perform genetic testing for people with heart problems or a history of breast cancer, since these diseases have a strong genetic component. “We could use it better for preventative or monitoring types of mechanisms, being able to identify genetically which people should have yearly mammograms vs maybe mammograms every 5 years.” Dickel hopes in the future, more diseases, like diabetes, which is less understood genetically, can be studied with DNA sequencing.