My Day at Color – Color
June 8, 2018
Hi! I’m a (rising) junior at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, currently living my best life on summer vacation. The beauty of summer is having the time and freedom to do absolutely anything, whether that’s sleeping, spending time with friends and family, going to... Read MoreSupporting patients left in limbo by DTC BRCA genetic testing
June 7, 2018
When the FDA authorized the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) BRCA test in March, they did so with the caveat that any positive test result requires confirmation and genetic counseling before it can be used to inform medical treatment. Historically, insurance will only cover BRCA... Read MoreFilling in the gaps: using genetics to learn about your health history
June 6, 2018
As someone who is adopted, Marissa has always been curious about her genetic background. So when she learned that her employer was offering Color’s Hereditary Cancer Test as a complimentary benefit to employees, she saw it as a chance to gain knowledge that could help her make... Read MoreUnderstanding the Difference Between Genetic Testing Technologies
June 6, 2018
The technology used in a genetic test makes a big difference in the completeness of the results. There is a common misperception that all genetic tests are created equally and the only difference is what areas they focus on — such as ancestry, digestive flora, prenatal... Read MoreSoftware is Changing the Game for Genetic Counseling
June 6, 2018
“Genetic counseling is essential to the communication of results, and by doing it in an efficient way, the barrier of cost is a thing of the past.” I attended my first National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Annual Education Conference (AEC) in 2008 when I was still a... Read MoreEngineered for Extreme Efficiency – Color
June 6, 2018
How creative thinking and Next Generation Sequencing delivers state-of-the-art genetic tests at the lowest achievable cost Inside the lab at Color Genomics, we’ve put together a mix of technologies and tactics that help us achieve two huge goals — performing the... Read MoreOpen Source at Color: A Statistical Risk Model for Cancer
June 6, 2018
10–15% of most cancers (in women and men) can be explained by inherited genetic mutations — which is why we built the Color Test, which analyzes 30 genes which are clinically relevant to the most common hereditary cancers. Separate from genetics, a person might still be at... Read MoreHacking for healthy, happy humans – Color
June 6, 2018
We just wrapped up another Hack Week at Color — our most exciting one to date! It’s amazing what teams of talented, inspired engineers/designers can accomplish in 4–5 days. Teams described the week as “fun,” “hectic,” “liberating,” “essential,”... Read MoreIt’s (another) hack week! – Color
June 6, 2018
At Color, we believe in new ideas and experimentation. So we’re pretty serious about hack weeks; our product, design, and engineering teams see them as a chance to take a step back from our normal cadence to brainstorm and build new ideas and experiences. In fact, many of... Read MoreFree Swag! (And other less important recruiting issues.)
June 6, 2018
People tend to think of recruiting as an artless career — you interview people, hire them, and the job’s done, right? Well, yes, that’s part of it, but there’s a lot of nuance involved. The recruiting team at Color works on a breadth of projects: from choosing the right... Read More
Color Q&A: Abdi Khalif, automation engineer – Color
June 6, 2018
Every week (or so) we’re going to chat with someone who’s doing something interesting here at Color. Congratulations, Abdi — you’re the first Color Q&A. Let’s start with your story. Where did you grow up? What interested you as a child? I grew up in Burnaby,... Read MoreA search engine for the human genome Part I: the genome in software
June 6, 2018
Elasticsearch is an open-source, scalable search engine built on top of the Lucene core. First released eight years ago, it has since become among the most popular choices for search infrastructure, with hundreds of companies having deployed it in consumer internet applications.... Read MoreA search engine for the human genome Part II: the case for search
June 6, 2018
In part 1 of this post, we discussed how genomes are represented in software, why comparing them is useful in a clinical lab setting, and some of the constraints around implementing Identity-by-State (IBS). For those who are new to genomics, it’s worth a quick read. To recap,... Read MoreBuilding a high-quality, reliable, and efficient bioinformatics pipeline
June 6, 2018
At Color we provide high-quality, physician-ordered, genetic testing at a low cost. A core component of this service is the bioinformatics pipeline: the software framework that processes data from the DNA sequencers in the clinical lab, finds genomic variants, annotates them for... Read MoreCosmic Serpent: DNA and the great Python 3 Migration
June 6, 2018
(with apologies to Jeremy Narby) Ouroborus, the mythical snake that eats its own tail Like any good software engineering team, we’re always updating our dependencies to make sure we’re running the most secure, bug-free versions. Recently, we tackled our oldest dependency:... Read MoreAre You a Future Genetic Counselor? – Color
May 29, 2018
“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue these.” – Michael Nolan I recently had the opportunity to talk with journalist Turna Ray on the Sequenced podcast about the profession of genetic counseling — one... Read MoreFull Transcript: Dinesh Moorjani, Managing Director of Comcast Ventures, on Sequenced
May 24, 2018
Dinesh Moorjani, Managing Director of Comcast Ventures Dinesh Moorjani, Managing Director of Comcast Ventures, talks to us about investing in technology companies, building internet and software companies, and lessons learned along the way. Prior to Comcast Ventures, Dinesh... Read MoreMy journey, from breast cancer to Color – Color
May 21, 2018
For several years, I followed Color from afar. I’ve worked in the employee benefits industry for nearly twenty years, but I’d never been very aware of genetic testing. I thought of it as a futuristic concept, not something the average person could afford, or the average... Read MoreWear Red 4 VEDS Day! – Color
May 18, 2018
Today is REDS 4 VEDS Day. Some of you are thinking “What is vEDS?” In that moment, you will have proved why this day of awareness is needed. vEDS stands for vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare, life-threatening hereditary vascular condition that affects 1 in every... Read MoreHelping Axia Women’s Health empower their patients and families
May 15, 2018
Eileen Carpenter, CRNP and Office Manager at Mainline OB/GYN, shares her experience launching Color at an Axia Women’s Health Care Center. Also pictured are Dr. Stephen Krell, Executive Chairman & CEO of Axia’s Clinical Group and Patrick Miller, Manager of Strategic... Read More