Genomes’ “Intangible Variance”
This piece isn’t about the genetic variance of genomes between any two individuals, but rather the as-yet “intangible variance” in the genomes of individual cells within the same body-at least the DNA variation in each neuron of a person’s brain. It’s called “aneuploidy,” and it refers to the deletion, duplication and rearrangements of genes on the chromosomes of cells-in this case, of neurons of the brain. If these subtle changes give rise to neurological diseases like schizophrenia, how can DNA sequencing of a person’s “general” genome be a realistic prediction of their future or even present health. The upshot of this is that genome sequencing is not likely to be a once-and-done procedure, but rather a technique that requires multiple scans. Let’s hope the cost of sequencing keeps falling and fast. MORE