Want to keep your genome safe? There's an app for that

NOW there is a smartphone app that will allow you to carry around an encrypted copy of your genome, safe in the knowledge that the DNA won't fall into the wrong hands. With prices for DNA sequencing falling fast, this app may not be as futuristic as it sounds.

The idea behind Genodroid, the work of a team led by Emiliano De Cristofaro at Xerox's PARC lab in Palo Alto, California, is to investigate how people might safely transport the personal information stored in their genome. At the moment, sequencing remains a boutique industry, but already 23&Me based nearby in Mountain View can provide a limited genome for just $299.

The ability to cart around our genetic profiles promises to allow us access to a variety of personalised medicine services. For example, we might be able to get a prescription for drugs tailored to our own genetic make-up, or for less serious applications, compare our ancestry with a friend's.

"A digitised genome reveals a treasure trove of very personal data as well as information about your siblings and current or future progeny," De Cristofaro says. "However, these wonderful advances and prospects are rife with serious privacy risks," he adds.

Indeed, the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues recently called for baseline privacy safeguards for this whole area of endeavour.

So De Cristofaro and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, adopted a cryptographic policy with Genodroid. When the app needs to test your genome against a database, only the relevant section of DNA is decrypted and compared online using the test algorithm. This way, any attack would only ever compromise a small stretch of DNA.

The team is now adding more tests to Genodroid's capabilities - including one for organ donor compatibility. The team has also made the code open source.

Simon Davies of the privacy watchdog Privacy Surgeon in London warns that while the technology should be embraced, we should do so cautiously. "This cryptographic platform risks creating a conduit of demand for universal genetic disclosure from, say, insurance companies we'd rather not give our data to," he says.

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Want to keep your genome safe? There's an app for that