Thanks to one anonymous patient, researchers in Vancouver made history in 2010 by sequencing cancer tumor -- it turns out Patient X was physician (and philanthropist) Donald Rix.
"It was a pivotal, even glorious moment in the evolution of gene science when, in the summer of 2010, Vancouver scientists announced they were the first in the world to sequence a patient’s rare and aggressive tumour to help select the most appropriate drugs. The results of 'patient X’s' sequencing were published in Genome Biology, a prestigious medical journal. The study was co-authored by 34 local scientists and was the world’s first such case report, making it a medical milestone. Indeed, it would be the genesis of what is now variously referred to as individualized, predictive or personalized medicine — tailoring drugs to the tumour genes of patients." -- Pamela Fayerman, the Vancouver Sun
