A renowned cancer scientist. His dying brother. A new type of DNA test with profound public health implications. Technology Review brought these elements together in an exclusive narrative about the “liquid biopsy,” an emerging technology that is able to detect nearly any type of cancer, often long before symptoms arise, by searching for tumor DNA in a blood test. The story dramatized how this powerful new type of test could offer a different way to defeat cancer, but also explored why despite its public health promise, the technology could be difficult, perhaps impossible, to put into medical practice.
