Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

A Say

The public should have a greater role in determining how their health data — from medical history to genomic information to lifestyle data — are used in big health studies, argues Martin Richards, the chair of the UK Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Party and an emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge, in a New Scientist op-ed.

In the UK, the government care.data program aims to develop a centralized data repository to share data to both improve care and inform research, but the scheme has been met with resistance. Richards notes that much of that stems from worries regarding data misuse, especially the sharing of such personal information with pharmaceutical or health insurance companies.

He and the Nuffield Council suggest that these frameworks better take people's expectations into account, track how the data is used, and levy stiff penalties for misuse.

"Only in this way will we build the public involvement and trust that is necessary to ensure that the benefits of personal health data are not squandered," Richards says.

The Scan

Machine Learning Helps ID Molecular Mechanisms of Pancreatic Islet Beta Cell Subtypes in Type 2 Diabetes

The approach helps overcome limitations of previous studies that had investigated the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic islet beta cells, the authors write in their Nature Genetics paper.

Culture-Based Methods, Shotgun Sequencing Reveal Transmission of Bifidobacterium Strains From Mothers to Infants

In a Nature Communications study, culture-based approaches along with shotgun sequencing give a better picture of the microbial strains transmitted from mothers to infants.

Microbial Communities Can Help Trees Adapt to Changing Climates

Tree seedlings that were inoculated with microbes from dry, warm, or cold sites could better survive drought, heat, and cold stress, according to a study in Science.

A Combination of Genetics and Environment Causes Cleft Lip

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers investigate what combination of genetic and environmental factors come into play to cause cleft lip/palate.