Huge US study starts sharing gene findings with volunteers

More than 155,000 Americans who shared their DNA for science are about to learn something in return: Do they have some particularly worrisome genes?

It’s part of a massive project to unravel how people’s genetics, environments and habits interact to determine their overall health. The National Institutes of Health said Tuesday it's now starting to notify participants about some early findings — if they carry variants that can cause any of 59 inherited diseases or trigger medication problems.

Because everyone with the same gene won’t have the same health outcome, sharing those results may spur new discoveries.

“What are the drivers in that variability?” asked Dr. Josh Denny, who heads the NIH’s “All of Us” study. “The way they change their behaviors in response to the findings, we’ll be able to look at that.”