Re: Why and Why Not You May Need A Genetic Councilor

Andrew Yates — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:39:47 -0000

"1 person. She does clinical leukemia research, occasional fashion modeling and is a certified pilot."

And I'm dating her. And she posted her knowledge once on a web community where her expertise can reach thousands by search.

"[[Mike writes Perl code]]"

Mike, if you're so smart, why don't start a web database for all mutations? You could use a LAMP stack if you're "practical" for Python.

"reliably predicts Huntington's disease"

You forgot to say that the extra glutamines in the huntington protein which is metabolized into toxic byproducts that kills brain cells. But, you can wiki as good as anyone, so I'm sure you knew. ;)

Re: Why and Why Not You May Need A Genetic Councilor

cariaso — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:54:48 -0000

>Computers can never provide human consolation, no matter how excellent and rational their reports.

For a standalone computer that is true. But a computer connected to the internet is capable of connecting humans to each other on the basis of shared genetics. This works equally well for paid professional geneticist counselors, PatientsLikeMe.com style communities.

>But how many people in health care today can read the following expression?
>re.search('(CAG){36,}',genome[4][3046205:3215485])
1 person. She does clinical leukemia research, occasional fashion modeling and is a certified pilot.

>Or write it?
my ($repeat) = substr($genome[4],3046205, $length) =~ /(CAG){36,}/;

>Or tell me what it means not just clinically, but biologically?
A repeat of 36 or more or 'CAG's on chromosome 4 between positions 3M and 3.2M. This reliably predicts Huntington's disease with longer occurrences having earlier age of onset.

Disclaimer: I heart Python and Woody Guthrie. "I don't want no greenback dollar"

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Re: Why and Why Not You May Need A Genetic Councilor

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