Genomics | Join All of Us

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How DNA Can Advance Research

DNA is an important source of information about health. Researchers can study DNA and other information from All of Us participants to make discoveries. They could:

Identify what makes people more or less likely to develop a disease.
Find out how environment, lifestyle, and genes can impact health.
Build better tools for detecting health conditions and encouraging healthy habits.
Study if some DNA changes can tell how some people may be affected by certain medications.

What We Will Do With Your DNA

When you join All of Us, we will ask if you will let researchers study your DNA. If you agree and provide blood or saliva, we will analyze the DNA in the samples. Then we can give that information back to you if you want it.

We will also make your de-identified DNA information available for approved researchers. These researchers will have to take special training, tell us what they want to study, and sign a contract stating that they won’t try to find out who you are. If we approve their project, they can then access our participants’ de-identified DNA information using our Research Hub. We can also send them a small amount of your samples or DNA to study if they request it. Whether they are using the Research Hub or your samples, researchers will not be able to see personal details like your name or where you live.

What Can You Learn About Yourself

One of the goals of All of Us is to return information back to you if you want it. If you give a blood or saliva sample to the program, we can check your DNA for information that could be important for your health. We could also tell you about other results, such as your genetic ancestry (where your family comes from). We would then share the results—which are not a medical diagnosis—with you through your All of Us account. We will only show you the results you want to see.

We plan to check your DNA for a variety of information. This information may include:

Your genetic ancestry,
Traits, such as why you might love or hate cilantro,
Whether you may have a higher risk for certain health conditions,
How your body might react to certain medications, and/or
Other health information.

Researchers are always learning new things about how to study DNA. The list of what we will check for may change as researchers make new discoveries.

Interested? Here’s What You Can Do Right Now

Sign up for an All of Us account. If you already have an account, sign in here.
Complete the “Consent to Join the All of Us Research Program” to participate in the program.
Complete all the program activities in your “My To Do List” in your All of Us account. Depending on when you joined the program, this could include:
1. Reviewing or signing updated information about DNA and All of Us.
2. Agreeing to share your electronic health records (EHRs) with All of Us.
3. Completing the Consent to Receive DNA Results. At the end of that consent, tell us if you want to get your DNA results.
4. Completing at least The Basics survey.
When invited to do so, provide your samples to All of Us so that we can look at your DNA.

The Choice Is Yours

It is your choice whether you want All of Us to give you your DNA results. If you say “Yes” to getting DNA results, we will contact you once we are ready to check your DNA for a specific type of result. It will take some time to get your DNA results. Some participants may not get their DNA information for a few months or years. You can then log in to your All of Us account to learn more about that specific type of result. Then you can decide if you want those specific results. For example, this means that you can choose to get health-related DNA results but not genetic ancestry results, or vice versa.

If you say yes, we will share those results with you when they are ready. If you say no, you will not get that type of DNA results. You can always change your mind later.

Frequently Asked Questions

How will All of Us give me my DNA results?

Once we are ready to generate a DNA results report for you, we will contact you through your All of Us account. When we contact you, you can log in to your All of Us account. You will see some more information about the specific type of DNA results we are ready to check for. You can then decide if you want those results. If you decide yes, you will get access to a report on that type of DNA results when it is ready. If you decide no, you will not get that type of DNA results.

Because there are different ways to check for different types of DNA results, you can expect to get multiple messages over time. You might get some results pretty quickly but have to wait longer for others.

If you need help understanding what the results mean, you can contact our Genetic Counseling Resource (GCR). You can also view educational materials through your All of Us account that can help you better understand your results.

For a small percentage of participants, we may find DNA results that could increase your risk of a health condition. If we find this type of result in your DNA, it does not mean that you definitely have or will get a disease. To help you understand the results, you will be invited to make an appointment with a genetic counselor from our GCR. The genetic counselor will discuss the results with you and answer any of your questions.

To make sure that we can contact you with your DNA results, please make sure that your email address and/or mobile phone number is up-to-date in your All of Us participant account.

How do I get my DNA results from All of Us?

It is your choice whether you want All of Us to give you your DNA results. To get your DNA results, there are a few steps you need to take:

Log in to your All of Us account.
Complete the “Consent to Join the All of Us Research Program” to participate in the program.*
Agree to share your electronic health records (EHRs) with All of Us. While this is not required to participate in the research program, we currently invite participants to provide blood and other samples only if they have agreed to share their EHRs.
Go through the Consent to Receive DNA Results when it becomes available in your All of Us account. At the end of that consent, tell us if you want to get your DNA results.
Complete The Basics survey.
When invited to do so, make an appointment to provide your samples to All of Us so that we can look at your DNA.
Go to your appointment and provide the samples.

Then, when we are ready to check your DNA for a specific type of result, we will give you more details to help you decide if you want to get that specific type of DNA result. If you decide that you do, you will be able to tell us your choice. You will then get those DNA results when they are ready.

*If you signed this consent before April 21, 2020, you will be asked later to review and/or sign some updated information on DNA and All of Us. You will see it in your All of Us account when it is available for you. You can check the Agreements section to see when you first signed this consent to join All of Us.

How will you protect my DNA and information about my DNA?

The All of Us Research Program stores blood, saliva, and urine samples in a secure lab called a biobank. The biobank stores DNA information about the samples in a secure database at our Data and Research Center. Researchers who want to study this information must agree to take great care in using it.

All of Us will not sell your health information to anyone. We also have privacy and security safeguards in place to protect your information and your identity.

Your privacy is very important to us. We will protect your genetic information in the same way we protect the other information you share with the All of Us Research Program. To learn more, you can view our Privacy Safeguards page on our website or view your consent form in the Agreements tab of your All of Us account.

We follow all federal, state, and local laws and regulations for keeping information safe.

We also have Certificates of Confidentiality from the U.S. government. They will help us fight legal demands (such as a subpoena) to give out information that could identify you.

The Genetic Information Nondiscriminatory Act of 2008 (GINA) is a federal law that protects you from certain kinds of discrimination based on your genetic information.

We have strict internal policies and procedures to make sure your data is not misused.

We store information on protected computers. We limit and keep track of who can see it.

We have security experts who have done and will keep doing thorough security testing.

We will tell you if there is a breach that is a risk to your privacy.

Learn More

Questions?

Our advisors are ready to answer your questions.
We’re open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, excluding public holidays.

Your privacy is important to us. To keep it secure, please do not include any personal information (such as your address, social security number, or health details) in your email or chat messages. Thank you.