ziomal.biz

The genomics industry, which provides reports about disease risk, ancestry, and drug reactions based on one's DNA, came under fire last week as a Congressional Committee held hearings and the Government Accountability Office released an unscientific "study" of the sector. According to undercover discussions with genomics firms, the GAO reports that "fictitious consumers received test results that are misleading and of little or no practical use." The agency admits, however, that it "did not conduct a scientific study but instead documented observations that could be made by any consumer."

As healthcare professionals rely more on electronic medical records, tests, images, videos and other multimedia files, high-speed broadband networks have increasingly become a necessary way to transfer and move this data. Unfortunately, however, rural hospitals and clinics have had a difficult time keeping pace with the need for new networks and fiber optic technologies. To fill this gap and to make sure that rural hospitals stay up to speed, in 2007 the FCC established the Rural Health Care Pilot Program.

It might not be long until there is a gene scanner in every doctor's office, as DNA sequencing becomes faster and cheaper. A Stanford University professor reported Monday that he has sequenced his entire genome in a few weeks for under $50,000 using a single machine. Six years ago, hundreds of researchers at the Human Genome Project completed the same task for $300 million. It took 13 years. "It's continuing down the path to making it so every Tom, Dick and Harry are going to have their genomes sequenced," said the director of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute.

Researchers at two Southern California schools may have achieved a breakthrough in the search for chemicals that can slow -- or even reverse -- the progression of Alzheimer's disease and possibly even diabetes. Surprisingly, the breakthrough didn't come from doctoral programs at UCLA or USC. It came from undergraduate departments at Loyola Marymount University and Mount St. Mary's College. A team of researchers recently discovered three substances that slow development of a key aspect of Alzheimer's.

Don't look now, but we may be about to enter the genome-based economy. Soon, having a personalized analysis of your human genomes will be as commonplace as taking an IQ test in school. You could carry a specially-tuned smartphone able to scan the UPC of any clothing or food substance you buy. These new inventions, what Dr. Andras Pellionisz calls your "Personal Genome Assistant," or PGA, will ferret out substances that are toxic to the one or more conditions mapped in your personalized genome report. Pellionisz is founder of HolGenTech.

Panasonic said Tuesday has developed a medical robot that dispenses drugs to patients, the Japanese electronics giant's first step into robotics. Panasonic will sell the robot to Japanese hospitals next March and will market it in the United States and Europe later. Panasonic spokesperson Akira Kadota said the robot will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. "This robot is the first in our robotics project. It sorts out injection drugs to patients, saving time for pharmacists," said Kadota.

Sleepless people sometimes use the Internet to get through the night. Now a small study shows promising results for insomniacs with nine weeks of Internet-based therapy. No human therapist is involved. The Internet software gives advice, even specific bedtimes, based on users' sleep diaries. Patients learn better sleep habits -- like avoiding daytime naps -- through stories, quizzes and games. "This is a very interactive, tailored, personalized program," said study coauthor Frances Thorndike of the University of Virginia Health System.

A few months from now, a highly contagious disease will spread through a Japanese elementary school. The epidemic will start with several unwitting children, who will infect others as they attend classes and wander the halls. If nothing is done, it will quickly gain momentum and rip through the student body, then jump to parents and others in the community. However, officials will attempt to stymie the disease and save the school -- using mobile phones. The sickness will be a virtual one, in an experiment funded by the Japanese government.

Weeks before the CDC and WHO alerted the public to a growing number of swine flu cases, a startup based in Seattle's suburbs already had a hunch something was up. Veratect, a 2-year-old company with fewer than 50 employees, combines computer algorithms with human analysts to monitor online and offline sources for hints of disease outbreaks and civil unrest worldwide. It tracks thousands of events each month, then ranks them for severity and posts them on a subscription-only Web portal for clients who want early warnings.

For all the past week's headlines about embryonic stem cells' medical promise, there is a sobering reality: The science to prove that promise will take years, probably too long for many of today's seriously ill. On his desk at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard stem cell researcher George Daley, M.D., Ph.D., keeps a file about 3 inches thick of emails and letters from patients and families who hope his work could help them. They are both inspiration and caution.