> Whole Genome Scanning

Scientists could reveal the links between modern humans and their prehistoric neanderthal relatives. Scientists said they have mapped a first draft of the Neanderthal's whole genome. Researchers used DNA fragments extracted out of Croatian fossils to map out a majority of the entire Neanderthal genome by sequencing three billion bases of DNA.

ONE OF THE PERKS of being a psychologist is access to tools that allow you to carry out the injunction to know thyself. I have been tested for vocational interest (closest match: psychologist), intelligence (above average), personality (open, conscientious, agreeable, average in extraversion, not too neurotic) and political orientation (neither leftist nor rightist, more libertarian than authoritarian).

Ten volunteers may reveal their genetic and medical data as part of the first release of data from the Personal Genome Project. Headed by Harvard University genomics pioneer George Church, the project aims to capitalize on rapid improvements in gene-sequencing technologies to better understand human health and disease.

IS THERE a heart attack in your future? Or just the heartbreak of psoriasis or male pattern baldness? Companies offering genetic tests directly to consumers have proliferated. Send them your DNA, in a swab of your cheek or a bit of your spit, and they’ll tell you what your genes tell them – about your ancestry, characteristics, likelihood of developing a number of diseases and conditions.

The state of California's Health Department sent cease-and-desist letters to personal genomic testing companies like 23andMe, Navigenics, and deCODEme last week. Now, it's becoming clear that the Health Department's actions were more of an opening salvo than a final knockdown in what could be a protracted fight over how consumers can access the information contained in their own DNA.

In the last year and a half alone, scientists have discovered more than 100 genetic variations associated with many of the medical conditions that affect older people, including type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Over the last six months, New York State's Department of Health has sent letters raising the specter of fines and jail time to six online gene-testing firms that offer consumers the ability to peer into their genome to assess their future risk of getting diseases such as cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. Often, it turns out, the services offering these DNA deep-dives are doing so without the involvement of a doctor. That puts them on the wrong side of the law.

Two closely watched companies that offer consumers information about their genes have received licenses that will allow them to continue to do business in California, a state official said Tuesday.

Americans can now order at-home genetic test kits to learn whether they have the genes for male pattern baldness or Alzheimer’s disease or bipolar mental illness

Will genome scan services improve people's health -- or not? So far, the limited evidence on behaviors after genetic testing has yielded mixed results.

But it is a long way from exciting research to reliable data on an individual's health, he and others emphasize. Khoury said he recently turned down a company's offer of a complimentary personal genome scan: "I don't see any utility in doing that," he said.

The Google-backed consumer genome service 23andMe staked out a role in the growing medical database industry Wednesday, announcing that it will collaborate with Parkinson's disease researchers to collect key information from patients in an all-online format.