In some ways, Jorge Conde, cofounder of the genomics startup Knome, knows his clients more intimately than any other company president. Knome is the first company to sequence and analyze a consumer's complete genome. And Conde and his team have spent a full day with each member of their select clientele, going through the minute details of the results in search of hidden genomic time bombs, subtle health risks, and other information.
At $100,000, Knome's product is still out of reach for most consumers. But that could change fast. The cost of genome sequencing is dropping by an order of magnitude every one to two years, and the cost of Knome's product will drop with it, though not quite as fast. (When the company debuted its service in late 2007, it cost $350,000.) That means that within the next few years, having your genome sequenced will cost about the same as cataract surgery, making it affordable to include your genome sequence as an integral part of your medical record.
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