The cost of sequencing your genome just fell below $100, so the hard question is no longer “can we test?” It is “should you know what you cannot fix?” That is the tension at the center of this episode, and the panel refuses to give it an easy answer. Dr. Alan Weiss, Senior Vice President of Clinical Advancement at Banner Health, returns to Signal & Symptoms (his second appearance) for a conversation on genetic testing at scale, hosted by Dr. Junaid Kalia with co-hosts Dr. Isha Mannering, DR GPT™ Harvey Castro, and Edward Marx. Alan tells the story of a colleague, a genuine health specimen, who did a consumer panel and learned she carries risk for a rare, untreatable cancer, turning her overnight into one of the “worried well.” Harvey shares finding his own macular-degeneration gene during a chess game with his grandfather, and later, how CRISPR let a sickle-cell patient climb a mountain. Junaid raises the Apple Watch AFib problem, where a screening tool floods the system faster than it can absorb. Isha holds the line that genetics is still just a tool, and that newborn screening is where universal testing clearly wins. And Alan closes the loop with a confession: offered widespread testing himself, he said no. What You Will Discover:Cold open: CRISPR, and a gene you cannot unknowA gene you can’t unknowWelcome back Dr. Alan Weiss: genetics, genomics, and AIA grandfather, chess, and a risk gene (DR GPT™ Harvey Castro)The cost just fell below $100 02:08 The “worried well”: a healthy colleague, a frightening resultInformation vs wisdom: knowing what NOT to doPharmacogenomics: the codeine metabolizer exampleOffer it, or patients get it elsewhere (Edward Marx)The Apple Watch AFib problemGenetics is still just a tool (Dr. Isha Mannering)Does knowing your risk change behavior? The back-pain paradoxCISPR let a sickle-cell patient climb a mountain (DR GPT™ Harvey Castro)Newborn screening: where testing clearly wins“I was offered testing, and I said no” Referenced in the show:🖇️ The sub-$100 genome and the falling cost curve of sequencing 🖇️ Pharmacogenomics: the fast-metabolizer / codeine safety example 🖇️ The Apple Watch AFib screening surge and screening-to-diagnostic capacity 🖇️ CRISPR and sickle cell disease 🖇️ State-mandated newborn screening and the move toward genomic newborn screening 🖇️ Signal & Symptoms Ep 52 (Dr. Alan Weiss, first appearance): the empathy debate Connect with us:Dr. Junaid Kalia, Neurocritical Care Specialist and Founder of SaveLife.AI™ (host) 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junaidkaliamd 🔗 Website: https://www.junaidkalia.com/ 📹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@junaidkaliamd Dr. Isha Mannering (co-host) 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isha-mannering DR GPT™ Harvey Castro, ER Physician (co-host) 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harveycastromd/ Edward Marx, CEO, Advisor (co-host) 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardmarx/ 🔗 Website: https://www.marxadvisory.com/ Special Guest: Dr. Alan M. Weiss, MD, MBA, FACP, Senior Vice President of Clinical Advancement, Banner Health (physician-informaticist; former CMIO) 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralanmweiss/ Visit our website: https://signalandsymptoms.com/ Get advisory insights about Healthcare AI, at zero cost: https://junaidkaliamd.substack.com/ Medical disclaimer: This conversation is for general informational purposes and is not medical advice. Listening does not create a doctor and patient relationship. Views expressed by the guest and co-hosts are their own and do not represent their employers. Genetic and screening decisions should be made with a qualified clinician and, where appropriate, a genetic counselor. No specific company or test is endorsed. No PHI is shared.
