National Institutes of Health official visits UW to explain why they want your genome
The
The project is aimed at improving "precision medicine," using tailor-made treatments and drugs to more precisely treat people based on their genetic makeup. It may point to future cures, let people know if they're at a heightened risk for certain diseases or conditions, and tell them if there are certain drugs they should avoid.
And it's aided by fast-improving technologies, including automatic genetic sequencers, robots and powerful computers that can process an individual's genetic material, or genome, in days -- rather than months or years.
Dishman himself says he's alive today because of precision medicine. At the age of 19, he was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer -- and told he had nine months to live.
He went through cancer treatments on and off for 23 years to keep the disease at bay. Seven years ago, as his kidneys were failing, a researcher offered to sequence his genome and his tumor to see if the genetic material would yield any clues to treatment. The sequence pointed doctors to an experimental drug used to treat pancreatic cancer -- even though Dishman didn't have that.
He's now 50, and says he's healthier than he was at 19. Precision medicine, he said, saved his life.
The project will undoubtedly raise questions about privacy with so many people pledging to turn over their health data to the federal government, no matter how many promises the
"All of Us" started in May and has 133,000 participants so far, about half of whom are racial and ethnic minorities, Dishman said -- that's significant because many clinical trials and other health studies have focused on white men. The
"It's the way all medical research should be done in the future," said
It's similar to the famous Framingham Heart Study, which followed thousands of participants in a
The information will be aggregated and live in a database open to everyone, but only researchers will be allowed to see data from individual participants, Dishman said.
Dishman, who is 50 and lives in
The program is open to adults age 18 or older, and it includes filling out an extensive medical history form, as well as a blood draw. Participants can receive as much, or as little, of their own health information as they want. For more information or to sign up, go to https://allofus.nih.gov/
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