IMPORTANCE OF GENETIC DATA IN FRENCH COHORTS: INTERNATIONAL QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

In France, a cohort study is generally agreed to be a study of the health of a group of individuals over time. However, in the era of the digital economy, determining the natural course or causes of one or several diseases no longer seems to be the only anticipated goal of such studies, particularly as these elements are not the easiest to identify, impeding our overall understanding of humans. The North American company 23andMe and others, have created a new cohort model using different new means of production and exploitation both scientific and commercial of a huge amounts of data, including genetic data in particular. This new trend, which has been heavily criticized by academics and institutions in France, is nevertheless clearly succeeding both scientifically and economically. This success is raising questions about the efficacy of current French cohorts, which are struggling to keep up, even scientifically. The solution identified in this article is a sort of “Genetics v. 2.0” French-style: a hybrid cohort combining some of the particular features of French cohorts with features that have contributed to the success of 23andMe.