In October, my graduate program hosted a public screening of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” followed by an expert panel discussion. For those unfamiliar with Rebecca Skloot’s book and the story of HeLa cells, I highly recommend these two Radiolab episodes as background. Briefly, Lacks was an African-American woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in Read More…
Year: 2017
Guest post & a survey!
Guest post I don’t know how to say this, but…I’ve been seeing other blogs!! Just kidding. I mean I’ve started writing on another blog, hosted by the University of Washington Genomics Salon. The Salon brings together a diverse group of students, post-docs, faculty, and community members to discuss issues relevant to science and society. I Read More…
Opening the Tomb
Terra cotta warriors During the last week in August, I attended a special exhibit of the Terra Cotta warriors at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center. The warriors are a touring collection of a tiny subset of the vast clay “army” buried over 2,000 years ago, encircling the tomb of China’s first emperor. While the clay soldiers Read More…
Who cares if your genome is ready for prime-time, when it’s available on demand?
On Monday the consumer genomics company Helix launched a “DNA App Store:” a one-stop interpretation shop for your personal genomic information. Commercialization of personal genetic information has been gaining momentum for over a decade, mostly through direct-to-consumer testing companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA, but this announcement from Helix seems to represent a phase change. Read More…
The Sophistication of Simplicity
A mentor once passed on to me some exceedingly sage advice about writing: it’s very hard to write when you don’t know what you’re trying to say. So many of my difficulties in academic writing are explained by this obvious but compelling observation. It’s not that I don’t know things, but it’s hard to figure Read More…
Examining the Intrinsic and Instrumental Value of Personal Genetic Data
“If there was an architect going through the neighborhood and they were drawing plans, I want a copy of the plans of my house…I am not going to build a house, I just want it.” The above quote is from a focus group participant in a research study conducted by some of my colleagues at the University Read More…
Why your PC may mistake your genome for a mail contact
There is a file type used to store large-scale genetic data called a “vcf” file, short for “variant call format.” To a PC, however, a “.vcf” file extension means something completely different: it’s the “vCard” format used to send Microsoft Outlook contact information. Therefore, if you click on a genetic “.vcf” file with a PC, Read More…
Do we “participate” in Facebook?
Lately I’ve been reading, discussing, and thinking about the concept of “participation.” It’s an idea that gets thrown around a lot but without too much examination or critique. Specifically, I am researching theories and frameworks of “participation” as it relates to my dissertation. The question I’m asking is: does giving people access to their own Read More…
I’m sorry, is that too personal?
Imagine a stranger approaches you on the street and demands to either (1) take a sample of your spit so they can sequence your DNA or (2) plug a device into your smartphone that will transfer over to them your last month of sleep and activity data. Which are you more likely to hand over? Read More…
Regulation
Poor Little Bill Regulation is getting a pretty bad rap these days. At the end of January, the Trump Administration announced that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations should be eliminated (see here and here). Putting aside the immediate questions of logic and logistics of this order, the implication is that regulations are to Read More…