SOPHIA GENETICS SEQUENCING AND CANCER DIAGNOSIS.

Sophia Genetics detects cancer in the lungs, skin, ovaries and breast, as well as congenital diseases, by sequencing the genomes of patient's tissue samples – then uses machine learning to compare the results and suggest the most effective treatments. Jurgi Camblong,co founder of Sophia genetics is diagnosing cancer using thousands of people's DNA. Hospitals pay each time they use the tool. In its first 18 months, the company was involved in the diagnosis of 25,000 patients. "The problem is not producing the content or the data but really analyzing to find the important information so you can act on a disease," says Camblong. Sophia Genetics's machine learning system, created in 2011, is used in more than 100 hospitals across 20 European countries, including Oxford University's John Radcliffe Hospital and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. In 2016, it aims to make 80,000 diagnoses. Once the startup, which has raised more 
than £20 million from investors including Mike Lynch, receives patient data from a hospital, it can find genes related to diseases, such as BRCA-1 in breast cancer, within two hours. Genetic sequencing and treatment is being tackled by some of the world's biggest organisations,,such as Google and Amazon both help scientists analyse genetic data, and the NHS is sequencing 100,000 genomes from 70,000 people. Camblong says 60-person Sophia Genetics' advantage is that it can compare patient data across hospitals. "Algorithms recognize the context in which this raw data has been produced, eliminate biases, and make the results comparable," he says. The company is monitoring the success of each treatment. "In two years time we could tell you that your cancer looks like the cancer of 1,000 other patients, 500 received that drug and 80 per cent survived," says Camblong. It's not the cure - but it's a better diagnosis. read more; wired.co.uk

GENOMICS, FOOD AND DISEASE PREVENTION.

Eighty per cent of the global disease burden is preventable, Maloof, a health optimisation practitioner, told the audience at WIRED Health, and a large part of that is down to bad diet. Dr Molly Maloof keeps the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley in peak physical condition, but you won't find many pills on her prescriptions. An appointment with Maloof is usually rounded up with a new Instagram to check out and five app recommendations ,that's because she believes that food is the best medicine. The diabetes epidemic is so bad that the UK public health journal The Lancet branded it a "public health humiliation." Type two diabetes is perhaps the most prevalent preventable disease – in 2013, 5.1 million people died from diabetes and there are as many as 382 million people currently living with the disease, costing the global economy billions of pounds. Maloof believes the answer is simple, there is a need to treat the root cause of our disease with better food. Although our bodies tell us that doing the wrong thing feels right and doing the right thing feels wrong,since the body is used to sugar/sweets overload. Maloof, said using drugs to control body weight only exacerbates the problem. Statins are commonly prescribed to limit blood cholesterol and lower the risk the risk of heart attacks and strokes, but are also associated with an 12 per cent increased risk of diabetes. "Are people trading a heart attack for diabetes?" said Maloof. A visit to Maloof,she usually prescribes a strict regimen of boxed meal kits (such as Hello Fresh), fresh produce and inspirational food Instagrams. In most people, it's simple changes over time that have the biggest result. Maloof's recommendations are openly available on the internet,but her secret weapon is Nutrigenomics. Maloof uses data from genome sequencing companies like 23andMe to produce a diet plan that she claims is unique to your genetic makeup. She also runs micronutrient tests that identify the nutrients her patients are low on and then provides a bespoke diet plan to supplement those deficiencies. Add in quarterly data from blood, saliva and stool samples, and Maloof said she can create a diet plan that responds to minute changes within your body. "The real blockbuster drug of this century is the activated patient," said Maloof. "They have to want better health." The patients have to take control over their own diets to really reap the benefits and there are no quick wins. culled from wired.co.uk