Color, the genetics testing company, is partnering with Alphabet’s health technology-focused subsidiary, Verily Life Sciences, to provide to the company’s Baseline Health Study participants information from its genetic tests.
The emphasis from both companies is on providing “actionable” results.
While genetic testing services have caught the public’s imagination for their ability to provide insights into an individual’s ancestry, the technology has proven to be less effective in providing insights on health that are accurate enough to be clinically relevant.
Through the partnership, Project Baseline Health participants will be able to access Color’s physician-ordered genomics testing services and the company’s board-certified genetic counselors and pharmacists to help them understand what their genetic tests indicate about their risks for certain cancers and heart disease, and genes that can effect medication responses, the company said.
Offering the Color genetic testing services is another way Verily is trying to entice people into its attempt to provide a map of overall population health using the latest in data science and testing technologies.
Color’s genetic tests can be ordered online with participants taking their own samples at home. Users then receive counseling over the phone and tests are done in a matter of weeks, according to the company.
By offering Color’s consultation services, Verily is hoping to ensure that the genetic information that participants in its “Baseline” study are providing benefit individuals as well as the study’s architects.