, Columnist
The Government Wants Your DNA. Don’t Run Away
An ambitious NIH program to widely collect and analyze genetic data is worth rallying around for the potential health benefits.
People have rational privacy concerns about giving up genetic data. But the government has a good reason.
Photographer: Cayce Clifford/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
One of the U.S. government’s most intriguing health programs is going to start bearing fruit soon. And the more people who join, the better.
The National Institutes of Health’s “All of Us” project, launched last year, aims to collect genetic information from at least 1 million Americans and make it broadly available to researchers looking for medical breakthroughs. At least 230,000 people have enrolled in the free program, and 175,000 have contributed biologic samples.