Personal genetic information cannot be protected from hacking
In a provocative article published this week in the journal Nature Genetics (Eric Schadt et al., Bayesian method to predict individual SNP genotypes from gene expression data), researchers reported that they were able to develop an approach that allows them to link data about the DNA of a particular person with anonymous genetic information contained in databases of a certain type, which are in the public domain. However, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), which maintains one of the largest databases of the type in question, said they were not going to take any additional measures aimed at preventing the use of this method for the purpose of violating confidentiality.
Four years ago, after the publication of the results of a similar study, the NIH seized genetic data from their publicly available websites.
At that time, the question concerned the results of studies on the comparison of so-called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or "snips" (single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNP), occurring in patients with various diseases and in healthy people, to identify genetic markers of increased risk of developing the diseases in question. Being confident in the impossibility of violating the confidentiality of this data, the National Institutes of Health began to post on-line the results of the analysis of snips of hundreds of people. However, after the publication in the journal PloS Genetics of the results of the study, according to which, having a sample of human DNA at their disposal, the results of the analysis of his snips can be found in the public library of DNA sequencing results, the NIH and the Wellcome Trust charity removed the data from their public sites and currently allow only accredited researchers to upload the results of the study of snips to databases..
Similar barriers are less often applied to other genetic data, such as the results of the assessment of gene activity obtained by analyzing the levels of RNA in tissue samples. Previously, it was believed that it was impossible to track an individual based on the results of gene expression analysis, and researchers posted such information in publicly available databases. One example is the Omnibus gene expression database, maintained by the US National Institutes of Health and containing almost 1,000 arrays of data on gene expression in human tissue samples.
However, according to the results of Eric Schadt's recent work with colleagues from Mount Sinai Medical School, New York, everything is far from so simple. They developed a method for creating an individual snip profile based on the results of gene expression analysis. This means that theoretically anyone can find information in these databases, for example, about participants in clinical trials of drugs for the treatment of breast cancer or childhood obesity.
Despite the existence of an earlier precedent, this time the National Institutes of Health did not show concern. A representative of the agency said that while the managers will consider the published data and possible consequences, to date, NIH does not see the need to make changes to the practiced methods of providing access to data. Larry Thompson, speaking on behalf of the Human Genome Research Institute, explained this by saying that the existing risk is very small, since the method developed by the Shadt group requires the use of a "complex statistical method" and "is not a simple task." He also explained that 4 years ago the attitude was different, since such a "situation developed for the first time" and the heads of the department considered that they should act "with extreme caution."
Schadt, in turn, claims that he did not expect that the National Institutes of Health would impose new restrictions on access to data. With his work, he wanted to demonstrate the fact that, perhaps, there are no absolute methods of protecting personal genetic data. He believes that, instead of blocking access to such information, participants in such studies should be informed that there is a possibility of violating the confidentiality of their genetic data and that in such cases they should rely on other methods of protection, such as laws to combat genetic discrimination.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Science:
NIH Unperturbed by New Way of Peering Into Personal Genomic Data.
13.04.2012