Personal Genome Project

The Personal Genome Project ( PGP) is planning to publish the complete genome, as well as the medical data of its participants in order to allow further research in the field of pharmacogenetics. It was initiated and officially announced in January 2006, the molecular biologist George Church ( Harvard, USA).

The project will publish biometric and medical information of participants free of charge on the internet so that scientists in order to verify various hypotheses on the relationship between genotype, environment and phenotype. All data together with the names of the participants, ie not published anonymously. An important component of the project will consist in the study of the risks to the subjects, such as possible discrimination by insurance companies and employers, if the genome should point to a predisposition to certain diseases.

The ethics committee of the Harvard Medical School wrote that the first candidate should possess a master's degree in genetics or would have " equivalent understanding of the genetic research" to be able to understand all aspects of the study. The goal of the Personal Genome Project is to attract at least 100,000 participants worldwide.

The long-term goal of the Personal Genome Project is to give all people access to their genotype in order to use it for pharmacogenetic decisions.