The Future for Seniors...Genome Therapy, Implants?

Remember Gordy on Star Trek?  Eyeglasses combined with brain implants?  That could be possible.  Implants are being developed to help spinal cord injuries recover movement, and visual sensors and monitors are increasing in capability.  I can see the possibilities of visual implants and optical visors coming about...

And today, I read about another step forward in the research into human genomes."

Complete Genomics, a Mountain View startup, announced Tuesday that it had deciphered 14 full human genomes for customers that include pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and leading medical research institutes, a significant step for an industry whose work could revolutionize health care.  "This is just the beginning. The real action starts later next year. Then you'll start to see important medical results come out."

All life-forms carry a genome, a full strand of chromosomes that is a reflection of its hereditary traits. Deciphering, or "sequencing," a genome generates a vast amount of raw data that researchers are trying to decode in a quest to understand how heredity influences various maladies. Reid said he expects the company to produce 10,000 sequenced genomes by the end of 2010, greatly enhancing the potential for meaningful discovery.

The genomes, they said, are being studied by customers to validate the company's technology and for small-scale studies of four types of cancer (breast, lung, colorectal and melanoma), HIV and schizophrenia.

The aim is to use this previously unavailable whole genome data to accurately characterize the tumor and identify its vulnerabilities, which in turn can be used to design more effective therapies. The customers include the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Duke University, Brigham & Women's Hospital, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Institute for Systems Biology and Broad Institute of MIT, and Harvard.

There will be more radical changes in preventative and emergency care, I feel sure. I anticipate that sensors, monitors and controllers will provide some of the most commonplace changes that benefit seniors. I can see rolling in a diagnostic cart much like we roll in an oxygen cart today.

Can't you?