Toby Helm reports: Data about millions of NHS patients has been sold to US and other international pharmaceutical companies for research, the Observer has learned, raising new fears about America’s growing ambitions to access lucrative parts of the health service after Brexit. US drugs giants, including Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, have paid the Department of Health and…
Category: Healthcare
Nebula Genomics Offers Anonymous Sequencing to Increase Privacy and Transparency in Genetic Testing
Dava Stewart reports: Nebula Genomics is introducing a new model for genetic sequencing that emphasizes privacy and consumer ownership of data. It does this by allowing customers to anonymously submit their DNA and pay for sequencing without including any personally identifiable information. In a twist that will interest medical laboratory professionals, Nebula is using blockchain as part of this gene…
How to stop tracking on health sites
Peter Dolanjski reports: There’s probably no greater expectation of privacy than when it comes to a person’s health. But the pervasive third party tracking that we’ve recently learned many health websites engage in has made the internet untrustworthy for people who turn to it during this vulnerable time in their lives. […] According to the…
“Like Horoscope Readings!”: The Scammy World of DNA Test Startups
Dan Robitzski names a number of DNA testing firms and outlines how questionable their results are, writing, in part: The problem, according to experts, is that these companies are promising information about DNA with a granularity that even scientists can’t deliver. Deanna Church, a geneticist at the biotech company Inscripta, told Futurism the tests are “all…