Similar to recent or imminent offerings from 23andMe, DeCODE Genetics, and Navigenics, SeqWright will offer SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) genotyping services using a microarray platform. The new service is launching on Monday, January 28.

SeqWright marketing head Marc Dantone told Bio-IT World that it is using the Affymetrix Genome-Wide SNP array 6.0, and will initially score nearly 1 million SNPs, with plans subsequently to offer analysis of copy number variants (CNVs). The cost of the service will be $998, commensurate with those of 23andMe and DeCODE.

According to Dantone, the Affymetrix platform can identify around 930,000 SNPs. “We will be providing customers with their complete list of SNPs,” says Dantone, “because we believe it’s their data to be used as they see fit.” He also stresses that the microarray analysis will be performed in-house, in SeqWright’s CLIA-certified, GLP-compliant laboratory. “We believe [this] provides a powerful edge in terms of quality and reliability,” said Dantone.

SeqWright's CEO Fei Lu said: “SeqWright GPS will provide individuals with the ability to apply cutting-edge research to their personal genetic information in the hopes of helping them live longer, healthier, more productive lives.”

SeqWright says it will “empower customers” to enable individuals to compare their genotypic data with public databases on gene variants and disease associations. The Houston-based company will allow people to compare their SNP markers to international HapMap registries of European, East Asian and African populations, providing clues as to their ancestry. Consenting family members will also be able to share information on their genetic markers and thus to develop a "molecular genealogy" for medical and physical traits. 

Fast-Moving Field
SeqWright’s announcement follows a flurry of recent activity in the personal genomics space. This week, 23andMe co-founders Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey debuted their service in Europe and Canada, offering 1,000 delegates at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week free personal genome tests (list price $995).

It will be interesting to see how such tests are received in Britain and the rest of Europe. Helen Wallace, director of Gene Watch, a UK pressure group, warned the Guardian that the human genome is poised to become “a massive marketing scam… Genetic tests like these are not regulated and the science is still poorly understood -- so there is a real danger people could be misled about their health."

Meanwhile, Knome, the first company to offer commercial whole-genome sequencing (as opposed to genotyping) to individuals, announced that it had signed its first two private customers at $350,000 apiece – one from Europe, the other from China. Knome is contracting with the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which said it aimed to complete the sequencing work in the next few months.

Said Zhuo Li, VP of international collaboration at BGI: “With over 100 bioinformaticians, we have one of the top teams in the world focused on this important effort. We believe whole genome sequencing will ultimately drive advances in biomedical research and will enhance our understanding of the role of genetics in human function and disease.”

Iceland’s DeCODE Genetics recently updated its DeCODEme service. The web site now allows individuals to download their entire SNP genotypes from their genetic scan, allowing users to archive their SNP calls.

There has also been progress in George Church’s Personal Genome Project (PGP). Writing in his “Life as a Healthcare CIO” blog, John Halamka (Harvard Medical School), one of the first 10 PGP volunteers, reveals some of his preliminary results based on Affymetrix microarray typing of 500,000 SNPs.

Halamka has learned, for example, that he has average risk of Type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, but increased risk of coronary artery disease. “Thus for me, becoming a vegan seven years ago was truly a great idea,” he writes. “By reducing all my cardiac risk factors, I've likely negated my genetic risks.”

Work is progressing to sequence some 60 million bases of the Halamka’s genome and those of the other PGP volunteers, corresponding to the exome, or gene coding sequences.