What is NGS (next generation sequencing)?

What is NGS next generation sequencing? I think the standard these days is to have next generation sequencing done. So next generation sequencing is what we're going to do is we're going to look at the sequences of 400 genes that are associated with cancer and we're going to say are they normal or are they abnormal, right? And so there are companies where you can send these samples to and they will sequence. So you can do it commercially. Many academic centers have their own sequencing facilities. It doesn't happen overnight. It may take a couple of weeks before you get the answers back, but it's I think important to do from the beginning. And it is one of these, what I would say is in the realm of what we do biologically, what we do clinically, this is sort of the fastest growing part because when we originally, let's say, sequenced the first person's genome, that was something like $20 billion, right? So now we can sequence that entire thing probably for a hundred bucks, depending on how accurate you want to be. So it's much cheaper. It's a lot faster now. And so I think being available is important to patients. So I would ask if you're going to get a bone marrow done because they think you have MDS, are you going to send it for sequencing? They might do that or they might not. I think whether you're at an academic place, whether you're at a community place, you have to, I think it's important you ask, well, what are you going to, I'm getting a bone marrow, what are you going to do with that bone marrow, right? What tests are you going to do? And I think sequencing should be one of them for MDS or AML.