Google researchers plan a larger study of human health.
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Google X, the secret research arm of Google Inc., made a major foray in clinical research in order to pinpoint on what it means to be healthy. The Mountain View, California, the company revealed last week that the launch of a project, the baseline study, to follow thousands of people and identify models of biochemicals, proteins, genetic mutations and other measures that correlate with remaining good and ill.
project was first reported July 24 by The Wall Street Journal , which history has described as "the most ambitious and challenging project ever science" and Google "a giant leap into the unknown. "He" know the structure of thousands of bodies there are people to molecules inside their cells, "raise" important issues of privacy, "according to the article.
After a pilot study this summer with 175 people who donate blood and saliva for testing, Google X plans to recruit thousands more volunteers in collaboration with Stanford University medical schools in Palo Alto, California and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In addition to the donation of biological samples, participants can wear portable medical devices such as glucose-sensing contact lens developed by Google X. Project name is Andrew Conrad, Life Sciences head of Google X, which developed HIV tests at low prices for donated blood and was the chief scientific officer of LabCorp, the giant firm of trial before joining Google last year.
in some ways, the basic study does not seem that radical. Many groups gather DNA and biological samples from large groups of people, both healthy and diseased, and track their results. It is also common in such longitudinal health studies to collect detailed medical data from volunteers and keep their anonymous information, such as Google X says it will do.
Google declined to Conrad available for an interview that could explain how the project differs from the other, but the collaborator Robert Califf, a Duke cardiologist, provided more details science Insider. Califf said the study hopes to recruit 10,000 volunteers for 2 to 3 years from Palo Alto and the communities of Durham and Kannapolis, North Carolina. Participants will be tested for their genome sequence, blood proteins, and biochemical metabolomic profiles or alleged; in some cases, these data can be optionally be combined with their electronic health records. Some participants will be healthy; others will have the disease. The aim is to highlight new biomarkers that can detect diseases such as cancer and previous heart attacks, according to Califf. Google X has "obviously had the computing power to do things on a larger scale than others," he said
The study can also find new correlations with physiological measures and better define what is normal. For example, perhaps pulse monitoring 24 hours a day could be a new predictor of a heart attack, said Califf. "The integration of physiology in real time with all of biology has not been done before. It is too difficult. "
Google X finance the study for now, but there will be other contributors, said Califf, who declined to say what the costs will be. He expects the baseline run for 5 years, "then we'll see," he said.
the Kannapolis site for the project of Google X is particularly interesting. After the factory premises textiles, it closed in 03, throwing many townspeople working, chair Dole Food Co. and billionaire David Murdock has built a new research center on the remains of the plant. one of its projects is now MURDOCK study, which plans to enroll 50,000 local residents and monitor their health as well as the famous Framingham Heart Study. Conrad worked with Murdock to set up the research center while at LabCorp.
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