June 2019: Latest Color Publications, Research, and News
June 11, 2019
June 2019: Latest Color Publications, Research, and News Op-ed: Proposed patent legislation would block research, stifle innovation, and harm patients Color CEO, Othman Laraki writes an op-ed in STAT News explaining how changes to the Patent Act recently introduced in Congress... Read More
A Genetic Counseling Milestone
May 22, 2019
Today at Color, we are celebrating a gigantic milestone: our 15,000th genetic counseling session! Color’s belief in the value of genetic counseling, and our role in making genetic information meaningful and useful to people, has been clear from the very beginning — one... Read More
Life at Color — Meet Katie (Product Designer/UX)
May 20, 2019
Tell us about yourself and how you got into Product Design. I went to Miami University in Ohio for college to study architecture (fun fact: we were a university before Florida was a state!). Two years in, I realized I didn’t want to be an architect but I loved design. Our... Read More
Genetics and Genomics: Color at ACMG, 2019
April 9, 2019
For the first time, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting took place in Seattle, Washington, from April 2–6 as thousands of medical and clinical geneticists, genetic counselors, and researchers gathered to learn about the... Read More
Engineering bioinformatics in seconds, not hours – Color
March 12, 2019
It was winter 2014. Pharrell had just dropped Happy, the Rosetta probe landed on a comet, President Obama was opening diplomatic relations with Cuba… …and here at Color, the bioinformatics team had a problem. Our pipeline — the data processing system that crunches raw DNA... Read More
Quarterly Color Abstract
February 27, 2019
We wanted to share the Q1 2019 Color Abstract, a quarterly review of company news and recent scientific highlights, to make it easier to stay current on what we’re up to. If you found this interesting, sign up for our quarterly Color Abstract here. Color News Bringing the... Read MoreBuilding a public research database out of spare parts
February 8, 2019
A couple months ago, we launched a public research database with DNA, health history, and more from 50,000 of our clients. You might be surprised at how little work it took us: under four person-months total. Read on to hear how we designed and built it, went above and beyond... Read MoreStop paying the ETL tax – Color
January 31, 2019
I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? …... Read MoreHighlights from Color’s annual Genetic Counseling Onsite
December 18, 2018
Color has always placed a high value on genetic counselors (GCs) and the services they provide, as evident by the fact that every Color test includes genetic counseling sessions and support. Here at Color, we are fortunate to have an extremely experienced and well-rounded team... Read MorePersonalizing care with genetics: Dr. Etkin-Kramer and Dana’s Story
December 7, 2018
Dr. Etkin-Kramer (left) and Dana Greenwald (right) The doctor-patient relationship is often thought of as a thing of the past. Most of us live very busy lives and spending time discussing our health with our physician is not always our top priority, especially when we’re... Read MoreTalking to your relatives about cancers in the family
November 30, 2018
It’s holiday season, and for many of us that means more time spent with extended family members. This uptick in family time can be a good opportunity to talk to relatives about the family tree in general, especially since genealogy is such a popular hobby right now.... Read MoreHappy Giving Tuesday! Here are some non-profits that are making a difference.
November 29, 2018
Giving Tuesday is a great time to reflect on the charitable organizations that are making a positive difference in the world. At Color, we’re continuously inspired by our non-profit partners who work tirelessly to improve the lives of people in their communities. If... Read MoreMovember tips: what 2018 taught us about men’s health
November 19, 2018
In Movember, we promote awareness of issues related to men’s health. And as we approach Thanksgiving and the holidays, our thoughts turn to family. So as our families start to gather, here’s a Movember review of some of 2018’s more interesting discoveries... Read MoreFull Transcript: Dr. Anirban Maitra on the latest advances against pancreatic cancer
November 15, 2018
This World Pancreatic Cancer Day, we talk to Dr. Anirban Maitra, Scientific Director of the Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center, about the rising incidence of pancreatic cancer, risk factors associated with the disease, and latest progress in... Read MoreFull Transcript: Dr. Kristi Funk on improving breast health and lowering cancer risk
November 14, 2018
This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we talk to Dr. Kristi Funk, Breast Cancer Surgeon and author of Breasts: The Owner’s Manual, about everyday choices to improve breast health and lower overall cancer risk. Dr. Funk also debunks common breast cancer myths such as the... Read MoreMammograms: How Often and When Should I Start? – Color
October 31, 2018
Could this topic get any more perplexing? There are conflicting guidelines, confusing news headlines, and depending on which doctor you talk to, you might hear different things. What’s a girl to do? Mammograms are extremely important for all women, as they allow doctors... Read MoreColor at ASHG: a year of large-scale genomics research
October 26, 2018
This year a record number of people (7,005!) descended upon San Diego for the annual American Society of Human Genetics conference. Color, too, sent our largest-ever delegation to ASHG to nerd out on genetics, present our research, meet up with old colleagues, and talk about the... Read More
Accelerating the pace of scientific research for diverse populations through low coverage whole genome sequencing
October 18, 2018
This week, at the 2018 American Society of Human Genetics Meeting in San Diego, we’re excited to present a scalable, affordable solution that can help accelerate the development of novel polygenic risk scores for non-Caucasian populations. In recent years, novel applications... Read MoreFull Transcript: Erica Ramos, President of National Society of Genetic Counselors, interviewed by Turna Ray of GenomeWeb
October 8, 2018
Turna Ray (left) and Erica Ramos (right) On this episode of Sequenced, Erica Ramos, the 2018 President of National Society of Genetic Counselors, talks to GenomeWeb’s Senior Editor Turna Ray about the growing field of genetic testing and role that genetic counselors can... Read More
Introducing LEAP: (Machine) Learning from Evidence to Assess Pathogenicity
October 3, 2018
If you’re a human reading this post, your DNA is about 99.9% the same as mine. It’s the 0.1%, our genetic variations, which make each of us unique. One of our most important jobs at Color is interpreting the significance of each of our clients’ variants. It’s especially... Read More