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Inside DNAnexus

Product updates, industry insights, opinions and references. From the team powering the Genomics Revolution.

At ESHG, Clinical Utility Steals the Spotlight

The annual European Human Genetics Conference, better known as ESHG for its sponsor, the European Society of Human Genetics, just wrapped up and we are still digesting all the great information presented there. Some 2,000 people descended on Nürnberg, Germany, for the meeting, and we were pleased to be among them — both as attendees and as an exhibitor.

As expected, ESHG 2012 drew top-notch speakers presenting really interesting science. A talk from Peter Lichter of the German Cancer Research Center in the opening plenary session on single-cell sequencing for pediatric brain tumors generated discussion throughout the event. A session on prenatal diagnosis was also very crowded, and Stanford’s Hank Greely spoke about the implications of fetal gene screening.

As routine clinical use appears imminent, there was a lot of conversation around whether clinicians and patients are truly ready for this kind of information — as well as the different regulations governing this kind of information from one country to another. Les Biesecker from NHGRI presented the results of a study indicating that patients are in fact prepared for this kind of data, and Alexandra Soulier from Inserm spoke about a study in France showing tremendous hope for the use of next-generation sequencing in the clinic. Soulier noted that the French study targeted young, highly educated respondents, so the positive results might not be representative of the general population.

The conference was the first one I’ve attended that had its very own smartphone app. Attendees seemed to really enjoy using it, but that didn’t mean everyone at the conference was a card-carrying tech expert. In fact, much of the feedback I heard from biologists and clinical researchers was that they are eager to make the most of sequence data, but worry they do not have the bioinformatics expertise or resources to do so. This serves as a good reminder that tools developed for this field will need to be simple to use for non-specialists — that means clear interfaces, less jargon, and an intuitive feel for the process. It was nice validation that ease-of-use, which has long been one of the primary goals here at DNAnexus, will indeed be critical for expanding access to sequence analysis in this field.

 

About DNAnexus

DNAnexus the leader in biomedical informatics and data management, has created the global network for genomics and other biomedical data, operating in 33 countries including North America, Europe, China, Australia, South America, and Africa. The secure, scalable, and collaborative DNAnexus Platform helps thousands of researchers across a spectrum of industries — biopharmaceutical, bioagricultural, sequencing services, clinical diagnostics, government, and research consortia — accelerate their genomics programs.

The DNAnexus team is made up of experts in computational biology and cloud computing who work with organizations to tackle some of the most exciting opportunities in human health, making it easier—and in many cases feasible—to work with genomic data. With DNAnexus, organizations can stay a step ahead in leveraging genomics to achieve their goals. The future of human health is in genomics. DNAnexus brings it all together.