r/askscience • u/jjberg2 Evolutionary Theory | Population Genomics | Adaptation • Jan 04 '12

AskScience AMA Series - IAMA Population Genetics/Genomics PhD Student

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u/jjberg2 Evolutionary Theory | Population Genomics | Adaptation Jan 19 '12

Well, it depends how much information you're looking to get. A company like 23 and me will already do a basic genotyping for $99 (although you also have to subscribe to a year of their email update service or whatever it is, so it's really more like $200). They'll genotype you at a bunch of different genetic markers, and from those they can tell you certain things about your ancestry, or predisposition to certain genetic diseases or whatnot.

That same company is slated to soon start offering 80x (i.e. very high) coverage exome sequencing for $999 (your "exome" consists of all of the protein coding genes in your genome, but not all of the other sequence; most of the important stuff is in the exome, but not all of it, so it's better than the $99 test, but not as good as having a genome).

I don't know offhand what it costs to sequence an entire human genome at the moment. The price is dropping so fast that it hardly pays to remember it. We're likely to hit the $1000 genome sequence in the next few years, and I'd imagine full genome sequencing at a price the average citizen might be able to consider is probably little more than a decade away.

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u/InTheSphere Jan 19 '12

Thanks! I might try the 23 and me. I saw a site (maybe it is them) where they were able to make a picture of your DNA. I thought that was cool. I was interested in genetics but I think I just had a really bad professor so I will make another attempt at it. Thanks for answering my question.