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Second blow to the head for effects of brain zapping - health - 29 January 2015 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_health a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_health.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} dataLayer = [{'visitorType':'None','siteSection':'News','author':'Caroline Williams','pubDate':'29/01/2015','subject':'health','barrierType':'None'}](function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-B92N');SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 37%MANAGE MY ACCOUNT ?GIVE A GIFT ?Health    Log in

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Second blow to the head for effects of brain zapping15:31 29 January 2015 byCaroline WilliamsFor similar stories, visit theThe Human BrainTopic GuideResearchers who threw a bucket of cold water over brain stimulation science last year have done it again.

In November, they found that transcranial direct current stimulation (tCDS) – which involves applying current to the brain to alter how likely the neurons are to fire – has no consistent physical effect. Now it seems the same may apply to its effect on the brain's information processing.

In recent years tCDS has been shown to improve everything from memory to mathematical ability in healthy volunteers and has even found its way into commercial, performance-enhancing products. But according to Jared Horvath and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne in Australia, it might not be all that.

Zap goes the effect The team pooled the results of more than 400 studies that reported a change in cognitive skills following a session of tDCS.

"Most studies have more than one outcome measure, such as accuracy, speed, errors made and so on," explains Horvath. And while one study may show, for example, improved accuracy on a memory task after tDCS but no effect on speed or errors, another memory study may show improved speed, with no effect on accuracy or errors. When put together they cancel each other out. This pattern played out in studies of memory, processing speed and mathematical ability, Horvath found.

Roi Cohen Kadosh, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford who has studied the effects of tDCS on mental arithmetic, is far from convinced by this argument. "My feeling is that it is very premature to do what they did," he says. "They did have a large sample size, but they fractured it so that they are comparing the results of three or four studies and expecting to see something meaningful. It's the easiest thing in science to not find results," he says.

Background noise He is also unconvinced by the team's assertion that most studies fail to take account of fluctuations in our cognitive prowess that happen over a period of hours or days and might affect results more than a short sharp zap in the head. Horvath says these may be influencing or even driving the documented effects, but are not controlled for in most studies. Cohen Kadosh says they are "not major factors".

There is one thing they both agree on, however. That there isn't nearly enough information yet to work out what is going on. "This is still a young field of research so we still need to be really careful when we interpret the results from tDCS. The real results will come when we have enough data to make meaningful conclusions," say Cohen Kadosh.

Horvath agrees. "I'm not saying tDCS does nothing… but neither am I saying tDCS does something. I am merely saying that we do not know and the research to date is such that we can't conclusively say anything. We need to return to basic, systematic, rigorous research that tweaks one variable at a time."

Whatever the ultimate outcome, if you like your science cut and dried, now probably isn't the time to order a home tDCS machine.

Journal reference: Brain Stimulation, DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2015.01.400

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Let's stop drawing lines in the sand when it comes to genetically modifying people and talk about engineering everybody

Want to see what a genetically modified human looks like? Just glance in the mirror. You are the result of an experiment that randomly modified your DNA in at least 50 places.

No ethics committee in the world would approve such a dangerous practice. But hey, it's OK because the scientist in this case is nature. And nature is good, right? Never mind that some unlucky kids die horrible deaths because they end up with cruel and fatal mutations. Never mind that just about every one of us will suffer at some point because of the legacy of countless generations of this uncontrolled experiment.

What if we could put a stop to this? We have already begun in a small way. For the past three decades some communities have been screening would-be parents to ensure their children do not inherit one particularly cruel genetic modification – Tay-Sachs disease. More recently, we have begun to screen IVF embryos before they are implanted in cases when we know children risk inheriting one or other of the nastiest results of nature's meddling.

And now, with the UK parliament's vote in favour of three-parent babies, we are about to go a step further and actively replace damaged genes with working versions that can be passed on to subsequent generations, breaking the chain of a range of inherited diseases. Great! This form of genetic engineering should result in the birth of healthy children and end much suffering... but wait! Gasp, horror! Did I write the e-word? I'm sorry, I meant "mitochondrial donation".

The decision to allow three-parent babies is right. But the fact is, opponents were also right to describe this as a step towards tinkering with the rest of our genome. Most supporters seemed to have convinced themselves otherwise, but let's look at the arguments.

One is that mitochondrial replacement is no big deal because mitochondria contain just 37 of the 23,000 or so human genes. Sure, but most genetically modified plants and animals have only one or two altered genes. If replacing genes is OK as long as it's only a small proportion, you could justify quite substantial alterations this way.

Ah, we are told, but the point is that these 37 genes do not affect children's characters or appearance. The "only known traits" that could come from the mitochondrial DNA concern energy production, proponents of the technique have argued in New Scientist. Fine. But most of our 23,000 genes are involved in fundamental processes such as cell division, and do not have any known effects on our character. So by this logic, it is OK to tinker with most of our genes.

Of course, replacing faulty mitochondria, which are self-contained organelles within the cell, is relatively simple and – we think – safe. Replacing or altering genes in the cell nucleus is much trickier. It involves editing DNA by cutting and pasting bits of it – recombinant DNA technology – and it is not safe at the moment. It would be utterly wrong to attempt in people with existing technology.

But the technology is advancing at a breathtaking pace. We're getting much better at editing DNA, with the help of easier and more precise techniques such as CRISPR, and we can now check those changes with whole-genome sequencing. It could be just decades before it is safe to attempt germ line genetic engineering using recombinant DNA technology.

Even without the religious and historical objections, germ line alteration remains a taboo to many. They regard our genome as somehow special, something we shouldn't mess with. In reality, our genomes are a mess.

Yes, evolution has produced many marvels, including us. But it succeeds only by making countless mistakes. The worst of these genetic mistakes die with the children landed with them. Less serious mistakes, or those that only kill late in life such as the neurodegenerative disease Huntington's, may never be eliminated.

All of us inherit a host of less obvious harmful mutations. Perhaps you are more likely to suffer from heart disease, certain cancers, dementia and mental illnesses, or to lose your sight or go deaf in old age. And your children and your children's children and all their descendants will inherit many of these mutations, along with new ones as nature's random errors continue.

When you understand how these mutations come about, the case for taking charge of our genetic destiny seems unanswerable. We are acquiring the ability to free ourselves from the baggage of 4 billion years of mindless evolution.

Germ line genetic engineering clearly has dangers, not least its potential to be abused for the wrong purposes or the potential for its cost to restrict its advantages to the wealthy. But many worries are exaggerated – we couldn't engineer Einsteins if we wanted to, for instance, because we haven't found any gene variants that make a notable difference to intelligence, despite much trying. What we could do is end a tremendous amount of suffering. And if it is available to everyone, not just the rich, genetic engineering could even help make the world a much fairer place – illness keeps many in poverty.

I suspect many biologists harbour similar views, but not many say so openly. Instead, they back three-parent babies but say it isn't really genetic engineering.

This might be politically expedient in the short term. But with technology advancing dizzyingly fast, it is time to challenge the idea that our genomes are somehow special and inviolable. We can do better than mindless evolution. And for the sake of our children, we should do so as soon as we safely can.

Michael Le Page is a features editor at New Scientist

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Gut bugs serve up vitamin A the carrot-free way - health - 04 February 2015 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_health a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_health.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} dataLayer = [{'visitorType':'None','siteSection':'News','author':'Jessica Hamzelou','pubDate':'04/02/2015','subject':'health','barrierType':'None'}](function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-B92N');SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 37%MANAGE MY ACCOUNT ?GIVE A GIFT ?Health    Log in

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Gut bugs serve up vitamin A the carrot-free way04 February 2015 byJessica HamzelouMagazine issue 3007. Subscribe and saveCHILDREN in many countries are struggling to get the vitamins they need from their nutrient-poor diets. But what if bacteria could allow them to make their own?

Vitamin A deficiency affects about 250 million children worldwide. Around half a million of them go blind every year, and half of those that do die within 12 months. "It's a serious public health issue," says Loredana Quadro at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

One attempt to tackle the problem is to genetically engineer crops such as Golden Rice, which contain high levels of compounds that the body can convert into vitamin A. But crops are susceptible to weather and can fail, says Quadro, who wants to use microbes to free us from depending on food sources.

Some bacteria produce beta-carotene, the pigment that gives carrots their orange colour. It is also a precursor chemical that our bodies use to make vitamin A. Quadro and her colleagues took the bacterial DNA that codes for this chemical and inserted it into a different strain – one that colonises mouse intestines.

After two weeks living in the guts of lab mice, the bacteria had made themselves at home and were making beta-carotene that could be detected in the gut, bloodstream and liver.

This is the first time engineered bacteria have been used to make beneficial compounds inside a living animal, says Quadro, who presented the findings at the Probiota 2015 conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, this week.

But her goal, a one-off probiotic treatment for children at risk of vitamin A deficiency, is still some way off. For a start, such a treatment will have to pass safety tests, and it must persist in the guts of children who may be prone to bouts of diarrhoea, says Alfred Sommer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

This article appeared in print under the headline "Gut bugs could save children from blindness"

New ScientistNot just a website!Subscribe to New Scientist and get:New Scientist magazine delivered every weekUnlimited online access to articles from over 500 back issuesSubscribe Now and SaveIf you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Got to get vitamin A from somewhere (Image: Paula Bronstein/Getty)

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Both cause and cure for diabetes could be in your gut16:16 06 February 2015

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Most read The island paradise overrun by giant cannibals Lilac and turquoise are as basic as red and orange Great Barrier Reef set for surprise electoral win Meet – and hear – the world's first bilingual chimps Mushroom kills with cookie cutter trick Most read FOLLOW USGet editors' picks in your social streamsThis week's issueSubscribe

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Life-changing implants reveal intricacy on a chip - health - 04 February 2015 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_health a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_health.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} dataLayer = [{'visitorType':'None','siteSection':'Regulars','author':'Flora Graham','pubDate':'04/02/2015','subject':'health','barrierType':'None'}](function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-B92N');SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 37%MANAGE MY ACCOUNT ?GIVE A GIFT ?Health    Log in

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Life-changing implants reveal intricacy on a chip18:30 04 February 2015 byFlora GrahamFor similar stories, visit thePicture of the dayTopic Guide(Image: Imperial College London)

This inner ear implant could one day help people with dizziness and balance disorders to regain stability.

Developed by Timothy Constandinou from Imperial College London and colleagues, it senses linear and radial acceleration in three dimensions and transforms the information into a signal that the brain can interpret, restoring balance in a similar way to how a cochlear implant fixes hearing.

The chip, which measures 3 ? 2 millimetres, is an example of how dramatically implants have shrunk. Early prototypes were bulky and hampered by poor battery life.

(Image: Imperial College London)

To save costs, many different types of implants can be integrated on a single silicon wafer. In the wafer pictured above, the chip in the top left corner, for example, is a prototype designed to connect the severed nerves of people with spinal injuries. The chip in the bottom left is being developed to sense the chemical activity in nerves. The wafer will later be chopped up into separate implants.

Both of these pictures are part of an Instagram series celebrating the beauty of life-changing chips designed by the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology at Imperial College London.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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MoreLatest newsBoth cause and cure for diabetes could be in your gut16:16 06 February 2015

Changes in children's gut microbes could signal the onset of type-1 diabetes, but engineered probiotic bacteria could help treat the disease

Crossing the germ line – facing genetics' great taboo13:38 06 February 2015

Let's stop drawing lines in the sand when it comes to genetically modifying people and talk about engineering everybody, says Michael Le Page

Technology driving rise in abortions of girls in India16:00 05 February 2015

Modernisation is not helping rebalance India's sex ratio. In fact, with 6 million fewer girls born between 2001 and 2011, it is making it worse

Doc-watcher spots when physicians stop listening11:32 05 February 2015

As screen use becomes ever more ubiquitous in healthcare, doctors may have a hard time focusing on patients during consultations. Lab-in-a-Box aims to help

see all related stories

MoreLatest newsPluto's evaporating ice leaves it with a blank face18:00 06 February 2015

Astronomers hoped Pluto's craters would hold a record of impacts from its neighbours, which are too small to see – a new study dashes those hopes

The secret of the world's largest seed revealed17:32 06 February 2015

Charismatic coco de mer palm trees of Seychelles seem to be unique among plants in caring for their seedlings with a novel use of leaves

Today on New Scientist17:30 06 February 2015

All the latest on newscientist.com: the secret life of your home, breaking the great genetic taboo, ferocious lemming, first stars get younger and more

Both cause and cure for diabetes could be in your gut16:16 06 February 2015

Changes in children's gut microbes could signal the onset of type-1 diabetes, but engineered probiotic bacteria could help treat the disease

see all latest news

Most read The island paradise overrun by giant cannibals Lilac and turquoise are as basic as red and orange Great Barrier Reef set for surprise electoral win Meet – and hear – the world's first bilingual chimps Mushroom kills with cookie cutter trick Most read FOLLOW USGet editors' picks in your social streamsThis week's issueSubscribe

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Let public have greater say over big health data - opinion - 03 February 2015 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_opinion a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_opinion.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} dataLayer = [{'visitorType':'None','siteSection':'Opinion','author':'Martin Richards','pubDate':'03/02/2015','subject':'opinion','barrierType':'None'}](function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-B92N');SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 37%MANAGE MY ACCOUNT ?GIVE A GIFT ?Opinion    Log in

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Let public have greater say over big health data13:30 03 February 2015 byMartin RichardsFor similar stories, visit theComment and AnalysisTopic Guide

We risk harming the huge potential of mass medical data in health research unless public concerns are properly addressed

Digital data are being amassed at an astonishing rate. This vast store presents great opportunities for science. Health data – for example, from biomarkers, medical imaging and genome analysis – offer a rich resource. Combined with data about lifestyle, diet and living and working environments, they can yield new insights on the causes of disease and the effectiveness of treatments, help to predict and prevent illness and allow therapies to be personalised.

Recent advances in information technology and data science – such as faster computing and improved methods of analysis – make this increasingly possible and are already being used in projects that rely on volunteers, such as the UK Biobank, which hopes to track the lifestyle and health of 500,000 over-45s.

So why has the UK government's giant care.data scheme, which aims to aid research and improve the health service by centralising data on millions of people in England obtained from family doctors, met with such resistance?

When security and privacy doubts were voiced over care.data last year, the project was postponed. It is an active opt-out scheme; unless an individual objects, their details are included. But the reaction of GPs, the media and civil society demonstrated that the data uses intended in the scheme were not in line with people's expectations.

Data worries People have concerns about data misuse – such as worries over insurance pricing, marketing, political surveillance and identity theft – but we do not yet have a clear understanding of the impact of such misuse. Research commissioned as part of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics's new report on the use of big data in health care and biomedical research, led by the Wellcome Trust's Expert Advisory Group on Data Access, shows that the harms are likely to be broad in range and more prevalent than those that are acknowledged by regulatory regimes. We know that a particular public concern is the sharing of health data with commercial researchers: for example, pharmaceutical or insurance companies.

Re-identification from "anonymised" data is increasingly possible as technology improves and more and more databases become linked. People are being asked to consent to data uses that have implications which neither they nor the researchers may fully understand. And simply complying with data law is not enough: it is just a framework that may not fully capture the reasonable expectations of research participants about how their data will be used.

To win public confidence, we need to go further. We need to start by understanding people's interests in how their data will be used. Appropriate security measures and participant consent need to be framed within governance systems that both involve and are accountable to those whose data is held.

Such systems must take seriously people's reasonable expectations about data use: about who may have access to the data, for what purposes and for how long. This may seem onerous, but there are examples of good practice to draw from as well as sobering lessons from previous cases.

These recommendations are in the latest report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. It offers a set of principles and some practical guidance to help those contemplating data initiatives such as care.data. Other conclusions include tracking how health data are used and ensuring individuals are told of any privacy breaches. Tough penalties for deliberate misuse of data, including imprisonment, should be introduced, even if it appears that no harm was caused.

Only in this way will we build the public involvement and trust that is necessary to ensure that the benefits of personal health data are not squandered.

Martin Richards is chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Party for the report The Collection, Linking and Use of Data in Biomedical Research and Health Care: Ethical Issues. He is also emeritus professor of family research at the University of Cambridge

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Concerns are growing over the misuse of health data (Image: Imagesource/Getty)

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