Associates in Action articles highlight CSG Associates’ philanthropic efforts and public-private partnerships throughout the states.
Following natural disasters and in times of national crisis, America’s private sector steps up to aid the states. We are proud of the herculean efforts of CSG Leadership Circle and Associates, our private sector members, as we together combat COVID-19.
Ancestry, a CSG Associate, is working to gain a deeper understanding of COVID-19 by searching for a genomic component to how people contract and respond to the disease. This information may be useful in the global effort to develop treatments, preventatives or vaccines for the disease.
According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in about 7.1 million confirmed cases and more than 406,000 deaths so far since the end of 2019. Ancestry has joined a global research effort focused on combatting COVID-19. Ancestry is asking its users to contribute their genotyping and answers to a COVID-19 survey to a research project to uncover genetic factors underpinning people’s response to the virus. Data collected from volunteers will be used in a genome-wide association study to better understand COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Ancestry has genotyped more than 16 million people since it launched its AncestryDNA product, and therefore has a vehicle to not only support research efforts but to give users another way to contribute to those activities.
The company announced its COVID-19 study to gain a deeper understanding of how different people respond to the novel coronavirus. Ancestry is making research data from the study available at no cost to qualified researchers in organizations. While the company has not named any partners, it said they may include non-governmental organizations, public health agencies and academic and pharmaceutical research groups.
Ancestry noted that an internal panel with privacy, regulatory and scientific expertise will select researchers from well-established, reputable organizations that adhere to research regulations and protect the privacy of research participants.
The study is being coordinated via Ancestry’s Personal Discoveries Project, a feature the company rolled out in 2018. It allows users to complete surveys to help Ancestry develop new features, as well as to take part in scientific research with expressed consent. As such, the company has already accrued experience in running such studies.
In the case of the COVID-19 study, Ancestry asks volunteers to fill out a survey to determine if the participant has been exposed to the virus, has tested positive or has not yet been exposed to the virus. If eligible, the DNA will be compared against other participants to discover any genomic similarities that may be associated with reactions to the virus. The survey also contains questions about symptoms, medications, health-related issues that might influence the severity of symptoms, and age and demographic factors that might have a similar impact. This information may then be shared with qualified researchers who are studying different treatment options for COVID-19, including possible vaccines or other preventative measures.
Participants have to be at least 18 years old and reside in the US. All data obtained via Ancestry is de-identified so that no personal information will be shared with partner researchers.
Survey and DNA data will also be submitted to the European Genome-Phenome Archive, or EGA, and made available to qualified external researchers developing both tests and treatments for the virus. The EGA, hosted by the European Bioinformatics Institute, is a data archive service that allows research projects to share phenotypic and genomic information.
“During this unprecedented challenge, our team is rallying around launching this study and engaging our members who’ve consented to participate in research,” said Catherine Ball, chief scientific officer at Ancestry. “We will always explore opportunities to advance public health and will continue to evaluate every opportunity through the vantage point of whether it is contributing to the wellbeing of our members.”
For more information, please visit https://www.ancestry.com/cs/covid19-study