2020 Vision
October 22, 2008 7:30 AM
Filed Under:
I'm guessing that the title for this week's Genome Canada International Conference is both a play on the acuity of normal vision and a suggestion that the conference will be looking well into the future. Considering the pace of change that might be a pretty grand ambition for the conference but I'm here in Vancouver to attend the conference for a variety of reasons. First off we had a meeting of all the communicators from the various Genome Centres across the country. I'm part of a panel tonight at a Public Forum called "The Genetic Test Results Are In .... Now What?", and then of course there is the conference itself and its great line-up of speakers.
Today's plenary session on 'Commercialization, Data Release, and Open Access: Incompatible Objectives?' is chaired by Timothy Caulfield of the University of Alberta's Health Law Institute and features Robert Cook-Deegan, Duke University (USA), Christine Critchley, Swinburne University (Australia) Tim Hubbard, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) , Aurora Plomer, Sheffield University (UK).
The breakout sessions for the day cover a variety of topics including Green Genomics, The Role of Government Science Advisors, Genetic Variation, and a broad look at the challenges ahead. I'll be using Twitter ( #genome), Facebook, and a few blog posts to try to hit the hi-lites.
Tonight's public forum should be an interesting event. My 23andMe and deCODE summaries will be given out to the audience as they come in and then we'll talk about just what direct-to-consumer testing has to offer. Or not. I couldn't ask to be in better company as the rest of the panel is made up of Dr. Elaine Mardis, Washington University at St. Louis; Dr. Wylie Burke, University of Washington; Dr. Darren Platt, human genomics scientist and former Senior Director of Research at 23 & Me.
And me.
Not sure I belong in that group but there was method to our madness. I have found over the last few months that many individuals, politicians, and even scientists are prepared to talk about the pros and cons of testing and the possible outcomes and effects without actually having seen what users get from the company, let alone talk to people who have had the testing. For this event I'm the voice of the consumer.
Should be an interesting evening and I'll do my best to offer an early update. If you have something you'd like me to raise, leave a comment and I'll try to inject it into the panel discussion or pose it to the audience.
Posted by Mike Spear at October 22, 2008 7:30 AM