Health IT, Startups

23andMe integrating with Apple’s ResearchKit on iPhone

The sharing of genetic data will still be a bit complex, however - all that data will rest on 23andMe's serves, rather than on iPhones.

23andme23andMe is teaming up with Apple to develop a module for latter’s ResearchKit to help meld genetic data with patient-reported health data. This open source data collection tool could, in turn, be turned over to medical researchers focusing on the interplay of genetic, phenotypic and lifestyle data.

The collaboration will also involve Stanford University, the Icahn School of Medicine, and an app developer called LifeMap, MIT Technology Review reports. The sharing of genetic data will still be a bit complex, however – all that data will rest on 23andMe’s serves, rather than on iPhones. “It would be shared, on a case-by-case basis, directly with research groups, but only if volunteers click through a consent process,” MIT Tech Review writes.

The lure of ResearchKit is perfectly app for 23andMe’s forays into the research space: By outsourcing its genetic data, it’s working diligently with pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers to meld genetic data with other health metrics. By integrating the iPhone, researchers can also capture behavior data, such as activity level.

As Street Insider points out:

By delivering ResearchKit as open source, any developer can quickly design a research study for iPhone. They can also build on the available software code and contribute their tasks back to the community to help other researchers do more with the framework. Using a new module just released to the open source community, researchers are now able to incorporate genetic data into their studies in a seamless, simple and low cost way. Designed by 23andMe, the module allows study participants to easily contribute their genetic data to medical research. Researchers are also working with the National Institute of Mental Health to deliver “spit kits” to study participants based on a series of survey results.

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