Genetic information stored in databases may not always be secure and private says a new study from researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass. For the study, the researchers reviewed genetic information shared by 50 participants in medical research trials.
The participants were assured that their personal information, including their identity, would be kept anonymous. The data was collected as part of the 1000 Genomes Project, which served to create a research database of 1,000 people from different genetic backgrounds.
By first reviewing the unique genome of each participant and then cross referencing that information against publicly accessible genealogy records, the research team was able to identify many of the participants.
“We have been pretending that by removing enough information from databases that we can make people anonymous. We have been promising privacy, and this paper demonstrates that for a certain percent of a population, those promises are empty,” said John Wilbanks, peer reviewer from the Sage Bionetworks.
by RTT Staff Writer
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