LAURANNEERGAARD-AP Medical Writing
Scientists are uniquely regarded as a diverse genomic database, first peeking at the genes of nearly 100,000 Americans. This is part of a quest to reduce health inequalities and end cookie cutter care.
The National Institutes of Health released data on Thursday to help researchers begin to understand how people’s genes, environment, and lifestyle interact to promote health. And half of the study participants are from racial and ethnic groups historically excluded from medical research.
That diversity “will add a kind of knowledge that isn’t there,” said Dr. Josh Deny, the head of NIH’s large scale. “All of Us” research It ultimately aims to have such data from 1 million Americans.
To date, he said, more than 90% of the world’s large-scale genomics research people are of European descent and lack diversity that impedes scientific progress.
Researchers are waiting for genetic information to study some of the most troublesome health inequalities.
For example, African Americans are four times more at risk of kidney failure than whites, and “everything else is equal,” said Dr. Akinlolu Ojo of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Behind the difference, “for the first time, we will be able to clarify what the underlying genetic factors are,” he said.
“This isn’t just a snapshot of time,” Oshiro added, tracking how genes and other factors work together, and some may survive for years with kidney damage. I would like to explain why some people are getting worse rapidly.
Today’s healthcare is all-powerful. Most treatments are short-term studies of hundreds or thousands of patients and are based on the treatments that are most effective for the average person.
“All of Us” is part of a precision healthcare effort that is a way to customize care based on a complex combination of health-determining factors such as genes, habits, place of residence, age, gender and socioeconomics. ..
This study recruits volunteers from all disciplines, both sick and healthy, to share DNA samples, medical records, fitness tracking, and answer health questions. Researchers also collect environmental information about the community of participants.
Despite the delay in enrollment due to the pandemic, NIH said that so far more than 474,000 have agreed to participate and more than 325,000 have provided blood or saliva samples for researchers to initiate analysis.
The database, which opened on Thursday, contains nearly 100,000 whole-genome sequences of the first volunteers. This means information about all genes, rather than a more general method of studying subsets.
Like other genomic programs, the NIH team protects the privacy of research participants by removing all identification information from the data. US scientists trying to use databases for their research must meet strict requirements.
Participants can request to learn the results of their genetic test. Last year, the NIH program began disclosing information about its ancestors to the participants who asked questions. Plans are underway to notify participants with certain well-known genetic variants that cause hereditary disorders or dosing problems.
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