CGS-authored
A new rumor is spreading that Apple may be leveraging its ubiquity to encourage iPhone owners to participate in DNA testing, perhaps to bulk up the medical data-collecting capabilities of its ResearchKit.
According to Antonio Regalado at MIT Technology Review, Apple will work with academic partners to collect and test the DNA, and may provide add-ons such as the ability to widely share genetic information directly from an iPhone with a single swipe.
This wouldn't be the first time genetic researchers have tapped into social networks to recruit participants. University of Michigan's Genes for Good project is using a Facebook app to encourage 20,000 volunteers to share information about their genes, health, habits, and moods to help the researchers uncover new connections between genetic variants, health, and disease.
Others are involved, too. There's Google (with its genomic data cloud storage), 23andMe (with its $99 direct-to-consumer / direct-to-drug companies spit kit), and the United States Government (with its precision medicine initiative).
On one hand, it is hardly shocking that Apple would join the trend towards so-called open-sourcing...