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13,000 Volunteer To Put Personal Genomes Online

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the will-c0de-for-f00d dept.

Lucas123 writes "The Personal Genome Project, which opened itself up to the public on April 25, has to date signed up 13,000 of the target 100,000 volunteers needed to create the world's first publicly accessible genome database. Volunteers will go through a battery of written tests and then offer DNA samples from which their genetic code will be derived and then published to help scientists discover links between genes and hereditary traits. While the Personal Genome Project won't publish names, just about everything else will be made public, including photos and complete medical histories. Scientists hope to some day have millions of genomes in the database."

4 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. bit late by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    its a bit late,

    google images already says there are 286,000 pictures of gnomes already online.

    http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=garden%20gnome Results 1 - 20 of about 286,000

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Data Control by macbeth66 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just who is going to control these kinds of databases and prevent the misuse of the data? Once a condition or a hereditary pre-disposition is determined, a subject could be denied medical coverage for that condition. It may well be anonymous today, but that can not be guaranteed into the future.

    1. Re:Data Control by macbeth66 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Good point. However, if they are not asking you for information that can be used to link directly back to you, then the database is waste of time. What will stop the mis-creants from stuffing junk into the data points? What will prevent someone with a low priority condition, to submit as multiple people in an attempt to up the priority of their condition.

    2. Re:Data Control by RDW · · Score: 5, Informative

      'It may well be anonymous today, but that can not be guaranteed into the future.'

      It's not that anonymous even today:

      'While volunteers won't have their names published with their genomic information, Church said the subjects are completely aware that anyone familiar with them can deduct from the photos and background information who they are.'

      Some early volunteers in the pilot program have gone even further than this, and explicitly linked their names to the public data.