009 What Do Your Genes Say About You?
In 2004, after 14 years of research, The Human Genome Project was concluded. 99,9% of the human genome was sequenced and we learned that people have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.\xa0 Genes are seen as a map to people\u2019s health and diseases; the ultimate source of our health problems and wellbeing. Expectations of what could be explained with genetic testing are high, however, genes are a universe of the unknown.\xa0 Even if a person has a predisposition for something, it is very often the environment which will or will not trigger it. Many diseases are polymorphous \u2014 more genes are included in their expression and severity.\xa0 We are far from knowing all the correlations. So where are we? Sooraj Ratnakumar is a scientist with a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge. He is also the CEO of Swagene \u2014 an Indian company for medical genetics. Wondering what he thinks? Listen to the 9th episode of Medicine Today on Digital Health. Comments, suggestions welcome at tjasa.zajc@gmail.com or Twitter @zajctjasa