Putting the Genome Map to Use
Level - UndergradThe Human Genome Project (HGP) has been widely cited for its potential for providing new strategies for diagnosing and treating human diseases. Your team works in the advanced product development department for a large medical device manufacturer. This department is responsible for developing concept designs for products your company is considering marketing within a 5-10 year time frame. You have been challenged to develop a concept design for a home screening test that would apply knowledge developed through the HGP to enable prospective parents to screen themselves for defective genes that could lead to genetic diseases in their offspring. This test must:
1) be simple enough for untrained users to successfully complete;
2) not require the parents to leave the comfort of their own home to complete;
3) be affordable;
4) have a low false-negative rate;
5) provide the results as quickly as possible.
Your design must specify which defective gene(s) you will test for (a maximum of three). You must justify this selection based on both the projected information that is or will be available from the HGP, the prevalence of the genetic defect(s), and the severity of the resulting genetic disease(s). If your design will be based on projected future HGP findings, you must critically analyze the likelihood that those findings will occur within your product development time frame.