I've donated my genome sequence to the public domain (my.pgp-hms.org)

I have made my genome public domain with no restrictions on access: I've uploaded this data to the Personal Genome Project (https://my.pgp-hms.org/profile/hu80855C); this post associates my name (David Konerding) with that genomic data. I had my genome sequenced by Illumina as part of Understanding Your Genome. As part of the package, they not only called my genotype (IE, the bits of DNA that make me different from everybody else) but provided the raw sequence data.

The alternatives include making the data available, but anonymized (with the possibility that a motivated researcher could deanonymize it), making it available to a single clinical researcher as part of a study, or keeping it totally private (perhaps sharing with my doctor).

I made this decision after many years of evaluating the risk of public knowledge of my genome, making some reasoned guesses about the true value and actual personal information content. After weighing the risks, I conclude that it's more valuable for me to contribute my genome to scientific research in an unrestricted way. I also spoke to my family and they agreed this was a good idea.

I also believe that at this point, the data I gathered, and its information, don't inform my particular health outcomes. If you analyze my genome and discover otherwise, please let me know. I would like to see your code and duplicate the analysis.

I still intend to keep my health records private, but am considering making a large amount of biometric data available. The more people - across more populations - who make these contributions, the more valuable the data will be to scientists.