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Gene Map to track life span !!

Now you can get the details of your genes by paying some £ 400,000 ( Rs. 2.8 crore). 

Craig Venter, the brilliant scientist who heads Celera Genomics, Maryland, US, a company that made public the sequencing of the human genome in July 2000 simultaneously with  the public funded Human Genome Project - is now offering to give, in collaboration with a UK based firm , the details of a person's genes with in a week of submitting  their DNA - genetic material samples for a sum of £ 400,000. 

Craig is said to have signed up with several millionaires. 

What could be the benefit of this ?

 

Armed with his genome, the person could check for the gene mutations linked with the illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 

 

Also the gene chart could give information regarding his propensity to heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and many other inherited illnesses. 

Scientists are skeptical of the gains of the Venter venture, because they say -

 

Mapping of the genome is not the same as understanding it.
 

Human life is sum of its genes and the environmental influences that shape it.
 

Venter's offer may not be accurate in its predictions of death and the boon may turn out to be a curse instead.
 

Any uniqueness in the individual genomes so mapped would only raise anxiety levels. 

Whole-genome testing, which cost several hundred thousand dollars only a few years ago, can now be performed for $1,000 to $3,000, though it varies form company to company.

A new study suggests: Mapping a person's whole genome cannot, for the most part, accurately predict the medical problems in a healthy person's future.