But at 23andMe we believe, as one of the conference speakers noted, that the bigger challenge right now is collecting so-called phenotypic information. Phenotype is all the physical and behavioral stuff your genotype can affect, such as height, eye color and disease susceptibility. Both genotype and environment influence phenotype, and the research challenge is to gather and interpret the connection between the two. We can then make more detailed and accurate predictions from your genome.I couldn't agree more: the collection of detailed, accurate phenotype data is one of the major limiting factors in modern genetic association studies (in comparison, collecting genotype data at hundreds of thousands of different variable sites is a walk in the park). If 23andMe wants to be able to generate their own in-house genetic associations to sell on to biotech and pharmaceutical companies, they will need to ensure that their phenotype collection process is thorough and rigorous.
The problem: how on Earth does 23andMe intend to collect this level of data from their existing customers, who are scattered all over the planet, and unlikely to be willing to be dragged into a medical centre for a detailed check-up (or to share their private medical data with a faceless corporation)? As I've said before, my instinct is that online surveys are a generally noisy source of data that are unlikely to satisfy the requirements of big pharma.
I guess there are a few alternative strategies for 23andMe and other personal genomics companies looking to generate their own association data:
- Careful, targeted recruitment of new customers suffering from specific common diseases, perhaps through offering discounted services to disease advocacy groups;
- Use their existing customer base as a way to demonstrate expertise in genotyping and interpretation, which can later be leveraged to sell genotyping services to corporations and/or research groups.
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