Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference

Science 18 January 2013:
Vol. 339 no. 6117 pp. 321-324
DOI: 10.1126/science.1229566

• Report

Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference

1. Melissa Gymrek¹,²,³,⁴,
2. Amy L. McGuire⁵,
3. David Golan⁶,
4. Eran Halperin⁷,⁸,⁹,
5. Yaniv Erlich¹,*

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
2. ²Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Sciences and Technology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
3. ³Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
4. ⁴Department of Molecular Biology and Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
5. ⁵Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
6. ⁶Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
7. ⁷School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
8. ⁸Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
9. ⁹The International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA.

1. ↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yaniv@wi.mit.edu

Abstract

Sharing sequencing data sets without identifiers has become a common practice in genomics. Here, we report 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. We show 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. A key feature of this technique is that it entirely relies on free, publicly accessible Internet resources. We quantitatively analyze the probability of identification for U.S. males. We further demonstrate the feasibility of this technique by tracing back with high probability the identities of multiple participants in public sequencing projects.

• Received for publication 31 August 2012.
• Accepted for publication 3 December 2012.

Read the Full Text

The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites

In Science Magazine

• Podcasts Science Podcast: 18 January Show Science 18 January 2013: 353.
  • Summary
  • Full Text
  • Transcript
• News & Analysis Genetics Genealogy Databases Enable Naming of Anonymous DNA Donors

  • John Bohannon

  Science 18 January 2013: 262.
  • Summary
  • Full Text
  • Full Text (PDF)
• Policy Forum Research Ethics The Complexities of Genomic Identifiability

  • Laura L. Rodriguez,
  • Lisa D. Brooks,
  • Judith H. Greenberg,
  • and Eric D. Green

  Science 18 January 2013: 275-276.
  • Summary
  • Full Text
  • Full Text (PDF)

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:

• The Complexities of Genomic Identifiability Science 18 January 2013: 275-276.
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Full Text (PDF)