The first sequencing of the whole human genome back in 2000 unleashed a tidal wave of research and development. Recently, Fast Company Magazine quantified the dollar impact of the Human Genome Project and now says it totals $800 billion! Their reporter communicates this so succinctly that THE DARK REPORT will quote two full paragraphs here:
The Human Genome Project—a $3.8-billion international human genome mapping project that ran from 1988 to 2003—wasn’t just a money-sucking vanity initiative… The project has, in fact, driven $796 billion in economic impact and generated $244 billion in total personal income, according to a new report from Battelle. Sometimes, pricey long-term science projects are well worth it.
According to the [Batelle} report, the nascent genetic research industry generated $67 billion in U.S. economic output and created 310,000 jobs in 2010 alone. “We were surprised by just how large the economic impact had been,” says Greg Lucier, CEO of Life Technologies (the foundation that sponsored Battelle’s research). “What was even more interesting for me is that we’re just getting going. The ability now to read genes quickly and economically is opening up entirely new vistas of opportunity.”
MORE ON: Human Genome Sequencing
These are eye-popping numbers. It is remarkable that, just in 2010, the United States gained 310,000 new jobs as a direct result of developments associated with the Human Genome Project. This certainly points to a rosy future for clinical laboratory testing that incorporates human gene sequencing.
CASE OF EBOLA FOUND IN UGANDA
On May 15, public health authorities in Uganda announced that one case of Ebola virus had been diagnosed in a 12-year old girl. She died of the disease on May 6 at Bombo Military Hospital. About 30 people who had been in contact with her were under observation. This included healthcare workers. The Uganda Virus Research Institute ran the laboratory tests which identified the Ebola virus. The speed with which this outbreak was detected demonstrates how efforts to improve the capabilities of clinical laboratories in African nations such as Uganda are paying off. In Uganda, major Ebola outbreaks occurred in 2007 and 2000. That last outbreak killed as many as 224 people, including the medical superintendent of one hospital and other health workers.
Dark Daily Update
Have you caught the latest e-briefings from DARK Daily? If so, then you’d know about…
…how Israel faces such a severe shortage of pathologists that physicians in the country predict that the integrity of cancer testing in that nation will soon be compromised as a result of this shortage.
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