There was recently a breach at Whole Genome Sequencing Company Veritas Genetics; which was first reported by Bloomberg last week. So far from what we know it appears an unauthorized user had access to customer information but NOT their medical information or genetic data. However, they fail to go into anymore detail or even disclose WHEN the breach happened.
Veritas Genetics is a company that provides WGS (Whole Genome Sequencing) as opposed to a lot of the other direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies that mostly only do Genotyping. The basis of Genome Sequencing is determining the order of DNA Nucleotide(bases) in a Genome.-The order of A’s(Adenine), C’s(Cytosine), G’s(Guanine), and T’s(Thymine) that make up an organism’s DNA. The human genome consists of over 3 billion of these bases. WGS includes not just your chromosomal DNA but also the DNA contained in the mitochondria. There are many reasons someone might consider Whole Genome Sequencing, some of those reasons could be: -It allows for the creation of a personalized treatment plan depending on mutated genes that could be causing disease. -Assisting Physicians in helping to choose the best therapy options by Genotyping cancer cells. -The identification of genes that have yet to be identified or understood.
Image of WGS- thanks to the National Human Genome Research Institute
Testing with Veritas Genetics costs $599. That is actually cheap for having your entire genome sequenced. Years ago this type of testing was completely unaffordable for the average person. There are currently private companies who are working on trying to get their WGS testing under $100. As the price of testing continues to drop and the popularity of personalized medicine continues to rise I unfortunately suspect we will see more breaches like this one…also with the possibility of genomic data being exposed. I show here how even someone with de-identified genetic data can be exposed. Also keep in mind this is your entire genome, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs.. we can uniquely identify an individual with only 30 to 80 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms.
There is an incredibly vast amount of information contained in a genomic sequence. Keep in mind: this isn’t just your Genomic data but parts of your descendants’ genetic data as well. There are so many benefits to personalized medicine but policies and security protocols are not yet where they need to be to properly protect the necessary privacy of this data.