Researchers aim to learn how patients react to information culled from genome scans

In the Los Angeles Times (11/12) Booster Shots Blog, Rosie Mestel asked what individuals should do with the info they receive after spending "a thou' or two" to learn about their "genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease, colon cancer, heart disease, [and] more." Zeroing in on that question, researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute are planning to find an answer "with the help of 10,000 employees, family members, and friends of Scripps Health, a nonprofit healthcare delivery network in the San Diego area." Participants will "get a discounted scan of their genome from Navigenics," and "as new data roll in on other genetic links to diseases, those will be added to the database." Then, patients "will in a sense serve as their own controls: They'll be assessed for their mood, habits, and the medical care they seek both before and after they get the scan information." Meanwhile, Mestel pointed out an "interesting fact: Adopted people have been especially keen to enroll in the study."