Have Baby? Will Sequence

Gene sequencing pioneer Jay Flatley of the personal genomics outfit Illumina, predicted that by 2019 it will be a routine measure to map infants’ genomes.

With the cost of gene mapping plummeting, companies are scrambling to enter the market. A fully-mapped genome can act as an early warning system for predicting diseases and lead to better and more effective drug prescriptions. The benefit to society seems vast, but opponents cringe at the idea of findings leading to early discrimination for the disease prone or, worse, eugenics. Big Think’s Steven Pinker recently had his genome mapped and found out all sorts of interesting tidbits. Read up on his experience at the Times.