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Personalizing Health Data

Aug 13, 2009

"Can the grassroots Internet do for health what it is doing for politics?" asks Esther Dyson in the Financial Times. She writes that the Internet has allowed people to become "vocal and engaged" in politics and that this has changed what they expect to know about their medical institutions. Electronic medical records are a step, she says, but people need access to their own data. She writes:

Not everyone will become a "self-quantifier", but the choices of those who do will shape overall consumer consciousness and, in turn, the products and services offered by restaurants and food companies, the popularity of gyms and exercise overall, and the role models we emulate.

HT: Genes to brains to mental health

Breaking News
The Scan

Alzheimer's Risk Gene Among Women

CNN reports that researchers have found that variants in MGMT contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk among women but not men.

Still Hanging Around

The Guardian writes that persistent pockets of SARS-CoV-2 in the body could contribute to long COVID.

Through a Little Spit

Enteric viruses like norovirus may also be transmitted through saliva, not just the fecal-oral route, according to New Scientist.

Nature Papers Present Method to Detect Full Transcriptome, Viruses Infecting Asgard Archaea, More

In Nature this week: VASA-seq approach to detect full transcriptome, analysis of viruses infecting Asgard archaea, and more.