$200 retail whole genome sequencing now available

Re:$200 retail whole genome sequencing now available by soared on Friday November 23, 2018 @01:07AM (#18514677)

If data is anonymized properly, aren't we just enabling the creation of better, more effective medicine?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:$200 retail whole genome sequencing now available by oarsinsync on Friday November 23, 2018 @07:39AM (#18516044)

Define "properly".

At one point, we thought that simply replacing a user's IP with a unique ID was enough to anonymise.

At one point, a blur or pixelating filter on a photo was sufficient to anonymise it.

At one point, Monero transactions were considered anonymous.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:$200 retail whole genome sequencing now available by cure on Friday November 23, 2018 @09:04AM (#18516441)

There is nothing that identifies a person more precisely than their genome. It is, after all, unique to each person.

That means that by definition, anonymizing genomes is impossible. If someone tells you they will 'anonymize' your genome data, run away, they don't know what they are doing.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:$200 retail whole genome sequencing now available by jacquesm on Friday November 23, 2018 @02:49PM (#18518524)

You can't anonymize your DNA.

[ Parent | on HN ]