DNA home testing

TechKnow explores how the latest scientific discoveries around the globe are changing our lives.

Our genetic information has never been more accessible than it is now, with the introduction of a direct-to-consumer take-home DNA test.

This week, TechKnow explores the future of genetic sequencing and how it is poised to change healthcare from being reactive to proactive.

Contributor Rachelle Oldmixon takes the home DNA test, created by biotechnology company 23 and Me, and meets leading geneticists better to understand her results.

Dr Mike Snyder, head of the genetics department at Stanford University, takes our cameras inside his state-of-the-art sequencing laboratory to show TechKnow the future of “personalised medicine”.

Next, we look at a US company using technology to generate solar power at night.

Using molten salt technology to store concentrated solar energy, manufacturer Solar Reserve has made a major breakthrough in efficient and reliable solar power. It works even after the sun goes down. 

Kyle Hill takes a closer look at The Crescent Dunes Project, just outside Tonopah in the Nevada desert and explains how this vast land of desert could eventually be used to power 70,000 homes a day.

Finally entomologist Phil Torres takes his passion for insects a step too far.

Looking at the study of entomophagy and the increase of consuming bugs as protein, he visits a cricket breeding farm. He goes behind the kitchen to discover that something called a ‘cricket floor chocolate cookie’ really does exist – and that it tastes great too.

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