Hey, think you’re fairly nifty? Maybe you can sell your genome:
EncrypGen, one firm in the vanguard of this movement, is launching its first product this week. Essentially, this is an online database where an individual can upload their digitised genome. It can then be left there until they want to show it to their doctor, for example. Or, if they opt in to a service launching later this year, their data can be sold to researchers too.
With this service, scientists scouring the database will see anonymous profiles, along with details such as hair colour or medical conditions. If they find a profile of interest, they can ask for access. Users will then be able to negotiate a price for handing over part or all of this genomic data. As drugs are twice as likely to make it to market when they are based on human genetics, pharmaceutical firms are likely to be willing to pay the most. [NewScientist, 24 February 2018, paywall]
And what coin will they be paying you in? Did you guess …. this?
Payment to the data’s owner will be in the form of EncrypGen’s freshly minted cryptocurrency, DNA coin, which can then be traded or sold. Initially, there will be pricing guidelines, but David Koepsell, the firm’s co-founder, believes market forces will eventually dictate genomic value.
Just how many fads can they ride at once?
