Lucky Number 13

When someone provides their DNA for a database, they stay anonymous. If the researchers find anything on the DNA and want to do further analysis, the donor can not be contacted and the researchers hit a dead end. That is where there is an issue with the new discovery Dr. Stephen Friend and his team have found with the lucky 13. They have found 13 out of about 600,000 healthy adults that have a mutated gene that should have caused an early death or at least a crippling disease at a young age. 

Though the researchers can not go further with the information that have accumulated, they have a lead for the concept. The Resilience Project is the next phase in the process. This phase will require at least 100,000 people to have their DNA sequenced and are willing to be contacted if they have a mutated gene that should have crippled them or even killed them. Completing the Resilience Project will help to their main goal of finding a way to help others with those debilitating diseases.

The study is still new and needs a lot more research to be accomplished before announcing anything too big. As Dr. Bateman says “why are these people protected?” There are still many questions that need to be answered to fully understand the issue at hand.