Major flaws in “Identification of individuals by trait prediction using whole-genome sequencing data”

@article{Erlich2017MajorFI,
  title={Major flaws in “Identification of individuals by trait prediction using whole-genome sequencing data”},
  author={Yaniv Erlich},
  journal={bioRxiv},
  year={2017}
}
Genetic privacy is an area of active research. While it is important to identify new risks, it is equally crucial to supply policymakers with accurate information based on scientific evidence. Recently, Lippert et al. (PNAS, 2017) investigated the status of genetic privacy using trait-predictions from whole genome sequencing. The authors sequenced a cohort of about 1000 individuals and collected a range of demographic, visible, and digital traits such as age, sex, height, face morphology, and a… 
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20 Citations

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6 References

No major flaws in “Identification of individuals by trait prediction using whole-genome sequencing data”

It is shown that not only faces may be derived from DNA, but a wide range of phenotypes and demographic variables, and the main contribution of Lippert et al. is an algorithm that identifies genomes of individuals by combining multiple DNA-based predictive models for a myriad of traits.

Identification of individuals by trait prediction using whole-genome sequencing data

A maximum entropy algorithm is developed that integrates multiple predictions to determine which genomic samples and phenotype measurements originate from the same person and may have far-reaching ethical and legal implications.

Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference

It is reported that surnames can be recovered from personal genomes by profiling short tandem repeats on the Y chromosome (Y-STRs) and querying recreational genetic genealogy databases and it is shown that a combination of a surname with other types of metadata, such as age and state, can be used to triangulate the identity of the target.

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A Bayesian approach to predict SNP genotypes that is based only on RNA expression data is developed and it is shown that predicted genotypes can accurately and uniquely identify individuals in large populations.

Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height

The results indicate a genetic architecture for human height that is characterized by a very large but finite number of causal variants, including mTOR, osteoglycin and binding of hyaluronic acid.

Routes for breaching and protecting genetic privacy

An overview of genetic privacy breaching strategies is presented, outlining the principles of each technique, the underlying assumptions, and their technological complexity and maturation, as well as highlighting different cases that are relevant to genetic applications.