The Individual Genome Project invites volunteers

American scientists and entrepreneurs announced the launch of a new research project "Individual Genome" (Personal Genome Project). The organizers invite volunteers to cooperate, whose decoded genomes and medical data will be published in open access on the Internet.

According to the head of the project, an employee of the Harvard University Medical School, George Church, at the moment the genomes and medical records of the first ten participants are being prepared for publication. Now more than five thousand people have signed up for genome decoding, and in the future their number is planned to increase to 100 thousand.

Unhindered access to the giant database of the project will significantly accelerate the study of the causes of hereditary diseases and the search for new methods of their treatment, Church notes.

At the moment, none of the volunteers have been found to have serious genetic abnormalities, the dissemination of data about which could harm their carrier. If the results of the genome decoding lead to such unpleasant discoveries, the participant can refuse to publish them at any time.

However, according to George Church, the public will soon get used to a huge number of publicly available databases of genetic data, and concerns related to the confidentiality of such information will fade into the background.

Those who wish to replenish the project database can register as a participant on the Personal Genome Project website.