How statistics can help protect privacy of genetic information

Precision medicine uses all possible information to make the best medical decisions. This includes genetics, lab tests, images, and talks with your doctor. The goal is to improve care, lower costs, and reduce any side effects. Doctors and researchers can enter genetic information into secure online databases. This can help other doctors better treat their patients. It can also help us learn about links between gene changes and disease or drug side-effects. But, if you know enough about someone’s genetics, you might be able to find out more than you should. The goal of this study is to test ways to stop that. Researchers will use BioVU to test some of the ways to find out information. Since BioVU is not linked to identifying information, they will not be able to actually get any of that. But, they can test ways to prevent someone from getting that information. The results could help make shared genetic data more secure. With better security, more data will be shared. This could lead to new ways to treat diseases and prevent others. It could also lead to better drugs and less side effects.