Till a few years ago, genetic testing used to be an expensive and burdensome undertaking. But due to the recent advances in technology, there have been some radical changes in the entire genetic testing process. It has now become a rapid and less costly procedure. Diagnosis for hundreds of genetic disorders has been made possible due to the utilization of “next-generation” sequencing. It has not only proved to be useful in assessing pharmacogenomics variants but also in identifying treatable targets within malignant neoplasms.

Now one question arises whether sequencing the genome of individuals who are not seeking a diagnosis/ are generally healthy would yield any clinical benefit or not?

Certain researches have been done in this area to examine the ethical & unresolved scientific issues associated with the whole-genome sequencing of healthy people.

The recently launched insights series on “Genomics and Precision Health,” by the American Medical Association (AMA) has been a great help for non-geneticist clinicians in overcoming knowledge barriers related to genomics and gaining a better understanding of its clinical applications. In one of its articles, it has been discussed whether or not the routine genome sequencing of healthy people can lead to the discovery of clinically relevant and actionable information. But while the technology that we have today allows us to sequence the entire human genome, doing it simply for healthy people has no clear health benefits right now. The authors state, “Simply because it is possible to sequence entire human genomes does not mean its broad application in the healthy person is a good idea — at least not yet.”

In conclusion, while the sequencing of the human genome is a hugely multiplexed evaluation yielding millions of genetic variants, it is not that important for healthy people.

To get more information about the various genetic tests and their procedures visit us at — https://www.uturn9.com/