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Commentary

Nature 456, 32-33 (6 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/456032a; Published online 5 November 2008

Open Innovation Challenges

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Personal Genomes: When consent gets in the way

Patrick Taylor1

  1. Patrick Taylor is a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and deputy general counsel at Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
    Email: patrick.taylor@childrens.harvard.edu

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As the prospect of personal genomes for all promises to revolutionize personal health records, Patrick Taylor says that mandating consent does not protect privacy or ensure public benefit.

Translating genomic research into health care improvements will require linking genotypes with medical information that has long been considered private. Fortuitously, as genomics has progressed, so too have electronic medical records, including personal health records that are now an important part of the electronic medical information system1.