Mendelspod Podcast

"In a world turned upside down, this is an area where I don’t think he’s had much effect. I don’t think he knows how to spell “DNA.”"So begins Hank Greely in today’s interview on genetic testing in the age of Trump. Hank is a Professor of Law and, by courtesy, Professor of Genetics at Stanford. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

A few years ago they were the new kid on the block, and now they are a leader of mainstream genetic testing. Last year their revenue and profit were significantly up.And yet in today’s interview, CEO Sean George does not sound like someone sitting back on his laurels. In fact, he says his business model has got to change. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

After decades on the loose, it’s cool the cops finally caught him. But is it cool how they caught him?Nathan Pearson and Laura Hercher are back for April’s headlines. AACR had some more good news about Keytruda, and we take a look at the cancer prediction space.DNA Day, the first cannabis based therapy to be recommended for FDA approval, the Zuckerberg hearing—there’s lots in here today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Sequencing goes to the world of infectious disease. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

We can all recognize that PacBio has laid down the railroad tracks in the frontier of long read sequencing. What many are asking is just how close on their caboose is Oxford Nanopore? And just what exactly will be the differences between the two technologies?Chia-Lin Wei is the Director of Genome Technologies at the Jackson Laboratories. When we called her up for today’s interview to talk about how she is using nanopore sequencing, she said, “I’ve been using nanopore for years, why the interest this year by the media?” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Hanlee Ji is the Senior Associate Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center as well as an oncologist at Stanford. He’s also a clinical geneticist. In other words, he doesn’t need to take off his glasses and spin around in a phone booth to be able to do about everything.“I was in fellowship for a long time,” he says in todays interview. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

23andMe steals the headlines yet again.“If somebody is worried about breast cancer susceptibility in their family, they should certainly not be using this test.”That’s our monthly commentator and genetic counselor, Laura Hercher, talking about BRCA going DTC. But wait a minute. Then she says the test could be good in some instances. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

“I think the field has just really come to life over the last five or seven years. We’ve got all this sequence data. We’ve got the population data. We’ve got gene editing. I’ve been at this thirty plus years, and we haven’t had a culmination of technology and data like this before. I think everyone has to be excited in some way or other.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

The Personalized Medicine Coalition advocates for a wide group of constituents, including scientists, health care providers, entrepreneurs, payers, and patients. Which is why we’ve often wondered how the organization can be absolutely clear in their priorities.Today, PMC President Edward Abrahams joins us to answer that question. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

"We like to refer to it as consumer initiated, but physician supervised,” says Eric Schadt today when asked if his new test is direct-to-consumer.Eric is the Dean for Precision Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and since 2016 has served as CEO of Sema4, a spinoff that he founded out of the Mount Sinai Health System. Sema4 launched a newborn screening panel, Sema4 Natalis, in February of this year covering over 190 disorders. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe