Today’s dose is all about color, from the color of hospital gowns to getting a darker tan during pregnancy to coloring in an individual’s genome sequence with its clinical relevance.

— Whole genome sequencing is now one step closer to the clinic. Stanford University bioengineer Stephen Quake has become the first healthy person to have a comprehensive clinical analysis from his full genome sequence. The study confirmed that Quake, the 40-year-old founder of the sequencing company Helicos, had several genetic variants associated with diseases known to run in his family, such as arthritis, but the authors also found many variants not known to affect Quake’s kin. (Reuters)

— Here’s one way that sick patients can show their true colors: hospital gowns that match skin tones. Researchers argue that typical blue or green gowns don’t provide an adequate backdrop for health professionals to spot subtle changes in skin color that might signal serious conditions such as cyanosis or jaundice (Toronto Sun)

— A US appeals court cited legal precedent in its decision to uphold a settlement between Bayer and Teva Pharmaceuticals to delay production of a generic version of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. But the three-judge panel invited further legal review of patent agreements between drug makers over so-called ‘pay-to-delay’ settlements. (Reuters)

— Expectant women hoping to prevent multiple sclerosis (MS) in their children might need to do more than just sing the Mr. Sun song to their unborn babies. A new Australian study has found that babies born in the summertime are at increased risk of developing MS in later life because their mothers failed to soak in enough rays — and, hence, vitamin D — during the first and early part of the second trimesters of pregnancy. (BusinessWeek)

Image by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino23 via Flickr Creative Commons