Category: disease

How Can We Use Genetic Testing in Population Screening for Common Diseases?

People on the street

Scientific and implementation challenges Population screening for disease  is a concept that has been around for many decades. Its main purpose is early detection and treatment of asymptomatic disease, or risk assessment and prevention of future disease, in order to improve health outcomes in individuals and populations. Examples include mammography in breast cancer screening and Read More >

Posted on by Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment
Categories genomics, Population screening
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No Genome is an Island

Vibrio vulnificus bacteria

There was no cholera in Haiti until October 2010, when epidemic cholera swept the country. Within 6 months, more than 250,000 people were sickened and 4,000 died. A catastrophic earthquake earlier that year had exacerbated human and environmental risks by displacing millions of people and disrupting public health infrastructure. But there would have been no Read More >

Posted on by Marta Gwinn, Consultant, McKing Consulting Corp, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment
Categories genomics, whole genome sequence
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Shall We Have Pie or Stew?

a pie cut in almost half with the smaller piece labeled Environmental and the larger piece labeled Genetic

 Understanding Genetic and Environmental Causes of Human Disease A recent article in the Archives of General Psychiatry by Hallmayer et al. discussed the role of genetic and environmental factors in autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).  The study was a heritability analysis of 192 pairs of twins, which attributed 37 percent of the variation in Read More >

Posted on by Scott Bowen, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention15 Comments
Categories genomics
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