The MedSeq Project

Genome sequencing services are increasingly being utilized by physicians and their patients in both research and clinical settings. Developing standards and procedures for the use of sequencing information in clinical medicine is an urgent need with numerous obstacles to integrity and storage of sequencing data, interpretation, and responsible clinical integration. The MedSeq Project, funded by … Continued

News

How Genomics Could Save Your Life

Medium
February 2024
In this blog post, Dr. Robert Green poses the question: “What’s holding us back from doing more with preventive genomics in medicine?” Drawing on his recent keynote talk at the Precision Medicine Network (PMNET) Forum in Riga, Latvia, Dr. Green explores near-term applications of precision medicine using genetic testing such as: newborn and childhood sequencing, … Continued

The path to universal newborn sequencing

International Conference on Newborn Sequencing (ICoNS)
October 2022
At the inaugural International Conference on Newborn Sequencing, researchers from eight studies across the world outlined their plans, goals, and results to date for their newborn sequencing initiatives. The BabySeq Project led by Robert Green at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Broad Institute and Harvard Medical School was the first randomized clinical trial designed to … Continued

More than 10% of healthy people have monogenic risk variants

RareDR
December 2018
Robert Green, MD, MPH, the projects’ principal investigator suggests “These results are unexpected and exciting, suggesting that if we examine enough well-established, disease-associated genes, we will unearth monogenic risk variants in more than 10 percent of purportedly healthy individuals.”

BabySeq, MedSeq projects reveal how many people carry genetic risk variants for rare diseases

Brigham Women's Hospital
October 2018
More information on newborn and adult sequencing studies unveiled at the 2018 American Society for Human Genetics Meeting in San Diego, CA. Two projects in which healthy individuals have had their genomes sequenced have revealed that searching for unanticipated genetic results in newborns and adults can unearth far more variants associated with diseases than previously thought, … Continued

The true cost of whole genome sequencing

Medium
September 2018
The true costs of genome sequencing don’t end with the technical production of A’s, T’s, C’s and G’s, and they don’t even end with the molecular interpretation of a few dozen or even a few hundred genes.

Plenary presentation at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology Precision Health Meeting

AGBT Precision Health Conference
September 2018
Dr. Robert C. Green speaks at the 2018 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) Precision Health Conference in San Diego, California about our efforts to gather empirical data on genome sequencing healthy individuals. Watch to learn more about G2P’s MilSeq, BabySeq, MedSeq, PeopleSeq, PGen and REVEAL projects. Click here for more on the conference.

Genome sequencing for healthy people: Will it be harmful?

Medium
March 2018
The second piece of a 2-part blog series authored by Dr. Robert C. Green. An early study found no problems related to unnecessary or harmful medical follow-ups after healthy people received their genome sequencing results. To read the first piece, visit: https://medium.com/@genomes2people/genome-sequencing-for-healthy-people-will-it-be-helpful-b984b94e3d3f

Does genome sequencing increase downstream medical costs?

Brigham Women's Hospital
March 2018
“Whole genome sequencing is coming of age, but there’s fear that with these advancements will come rocketing health care costs,” said lead author Kurt Christensen, MPH, PhD, an instructor of medicine in the Division of Genetics at BWH. “Our pilot study is the first to provide insights into the cost of integrating whole genome sequencing … Continued

Genome sequencing for healthy people: Will it be helpful?

Medium
February 2018
The first piece of a 2-part blog series authored by Dr. Robert C. Green. Early results suggest that yes, whole genome sequencing may very well be substantially helpful to a significant number of healthy patients. To read the second piece, visit: https://medium.com/@genomes2people/genome-sequencing-for-healthy-people-will-it-be-harmful-d915cc08e634

Pick the right controversy- Robert Green

Front Line Genomics
July 2017
Everyone talks about generating the clinical utility data necessary to integrate genomics into healthcare, but no one has taken this to heart more, or generated more of it, than Dr. Robert Green.

Preventative genome screening hot topic at ACMG meeting

GenomeWeb
March 2017
The MedSeq Project, conducted at Harvard Medical School and funded under the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research program, has been conducting a randomized controlled trial involving nine primary care physicians and 100 patients. Half of them were assigned to discuss their family history with their doctor, the other half to talk about … Continued

Nature Podcast

Acast
August 2018
Much of genetic mutation classification is still to be determined by researchers, but what they do know can potentially help many patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in this specific study.

The flip side of personal genomics: When a mutation doesn’t spell disease

Scientific American
November 2016
How do you tell healthy people that they harbor lethal genetic variants? How does it affect their family or their overall health? Dr. Robert Green, director of the G2P research initiative, states that studying these variants is important because it gives some insight into how likely mutations are to affect increase risk of disease.

Will unanticipated genetic mutations lead to subsequent disease?

Brigham Women's Hospital
November 2016
A study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine is the first to show that mutations in certain cancer and cardiovascular genes put individuals at an increased risk for dominantly inherited, actionable conditions, regardless of family medical history. The study, carried out in two separate populations of African-Americans and European-Americans, finds that individuals carrying these … Continued

Genome sequencing for healthy people: Is it time?

The Huffington Post
September 2016
A blog post authored by Dr. Robert Green discussing the benefits and challenges that people and health professionals are faced with when dealing with genetic testing and screening. Here, he addresses ethical issues and potential complications alongside beneficial factors that deal genome testing.

Genomic sequencing: Just another tool in the doctor’s bag

Huffington Post
December 2015
Dr. Robert Green digs deeper into his one of his own projects, MedSeq. He explains the motivation behind the project, his hopes for what will be achieved, and how this study will lead to helping other doctors understand how genomics will help their patients individually.

Genetic counseling is rare among BRCA-tested women

Reuters
October 2015
Meeting with a genetic counselor is a crucial step before getting your genome sequenced because it allows patients to be more informed and prepared to hear and understand the results, especially with women who are being tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene.

Genomic technology enters the mainstream practice of medicine

Brigham Women's Hospital
June 2014
A review article titled, “Diagnostic Clinical Genome and Exome Sequencing” published in the The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), summarizes the technologies underlying CGES and offers insights for how clinicians should order such testing, interpret the results, and communicate the results to their patients.