Genomic Revolution 基因革命

Among the most exciting things happening in the World today is a revolution that is unfolding around human health. As smart and sophisticated as our doctors and medicine are today, they will in retrospect appear to have been primitive to future generations. We are just now beginning to piece together a truly systemic understanding of human biology. This understanding hinges upon our ability to probe and connect many different levels of complexity in the human body. At the bottom, we are quickly gaining insights into how our genomes drive our development throughout life.

Each of us has a copy of our entire genetic code in every cell of our bodies. Each genome is a 3-billion letter long code – just like computer code, except constituted by 4 different molecules instead of zeroes and ones. Ten years ago, reading a single genome cost about 3 billion USD, but today, it can be done for 10,000 USD. As this cost continues to plummet, every single person’s genome will be completely read and will accompany that patient throughout life. This will enable us to understand what diseases a person is likely to develop later in life, and to take preventive action early. It will also give us smarter methods for diagnosing and treating genetic diseases like cancer. Already, cutting edge cancer doctors are sequencing the mutated genomes of cancer tumors in order to understand what is happening in cancers at the molecular scale.

Our previously blurry picture of genetic diseases is shifting into focus. Beyond the genome, biometric sensors, like the ones Xiaomi sells in China, are becoming ubiquitous. Each of us will be wearing devices that generate realtime information about hormone levels in our blood, DNA transcription rates, physical activity, sun exposure, and more. This data will combine with our genomic data and our medical histories to generate predictive analytics about our health that can identify when we’re getting sick before we are even symptomatic. This is an interesting moment because we are standing on the verge of these technologies but haven’t fully developed them.

Anyone alive today, fortunately, can begin participating in the future of medicine. It is now possible to have one’s genome sequenced relatively affordably, and fitness trackers are available everywhere. I personally am now tracking how much I sleep each night, my stress levels throughout each day, and more. What I’m beginning to understand myself is that all of these things are related. If I don’t sleep enough one night, I am stressed for the entirety of the following day. This is a pattern I never would have noticed before, but now I do. Interested readers can themselves begin to take advantage of these new technologies, and be among the first humans in history to gain a deeper view of their health.

D.A. Wallach, June 8, 2015, Los Angeles, CA

在当今世界发生的所有事情中，最令人兴奋的就是围绕人类健康开展的一次革命。尽管现在我们的医术越来越高明，药物越来越有效，但是用不了多久，这些又会成为历史。我们现在才开始一步一步系统拼凑人体生物学的知识，而对此的了解是基于对人体不同程度的复杂构造的探索能力。我们正在逐步获取对基因组的了解，基因组到底是如何促进生命发展的？

每个人每个细胞中都有特定的基因序列的副本。每一组基因都有三十亿个字母代码长度，就像电脑代码一样，但与之又有不同，基因组由4种不同的分子组成。十年前，读取一组基因需要花费300万美金，但是现在只需要1万。因为费用降低，每个人都有机会读取自己的基因信息，并且可以永久保存信息。读取基因信息，能预知人们今后可能会得的疾病以便及早采取预防措施。同时，也能让我们有机会尽早诊断并治疗遗传病，比如癌症。如今，医术最高超的癌症医生也在测序癌症肿瘤的突变基因，目的是为了从最微小的分子层面了解癌症发生的根本原因。

以前人们还不太了解遗传病，而现在，遗传病越来越受到人们的关注。除了基因组之外，生物计量学传感器开始出现在我们的日常生活当中，比如在中国大热的小米智能手环。以后每个人都会带上智能手环，通过手环来实时记录人体血液内的激素水平，基因转录率、运动数据，日照时长等等。手环记录的这些数据将与我们的人体基因数据、医疗史相结合，在我们生病甚至有一点病症之前就能生成健康预测分析。现在我们还处在初级阶段，虽然已经获取了一些技术资讯，但是还没有完全开发成熟。

幸运的是，只要你活着，你就能参与未来的医学探讨。现在，人人都有机会获取基因组序列。健身追踪器到处都可以买到。我现在也一直在记录我每天睡眠几小时，每天压力大不大，等等。我现在开始明白，所有的这些东西都是息息相关的。如果我晚上没有获得足够的睡眠，那么第二天我就会一整天没有精神。这样的一个一环接一环的生活模式我以前从来没有注意到。有兴趣的话可以尝试把这些技术真正运用到生活当中来，并成为最早一批利用技术深层关注自己健康状况的人们。

D.A. Wallach，2015年6月8日，美国洛杉矶