Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — Floyd Hatch lost his first sibling to heart disease 25 years ago.
Ten years later, Hatch lost a sister to the disease as well. And after Hatch was also diagnosed, he was left wondering, what is it about their family that made them susceptible to the disease, and could it have been prevented?
“It was so hard for our family to go through that. … We didn’t have enough research to really understand the problem,” Hatch said in a press conference Wednesday where Intermountain Healthcare announced a partnership with Icelandic company deCODE genetics to do just that.
The team has launched a population study to better understand how to treat and prevent genetic diseases by studying the genes of 500,000 people in Utah and Idaho.
The study, known as the HerediGene, is the largest and most comprehensive effort of DNA mapping from a single population in the U.S.
Patients being treated or receiving a blood draw at Intermountain hospitals will be given the opportunity to participate for free. Others who are interested in participating can fill out a form online. Those who choose to allow their DNA to be tested will sign a consent form, and then it will be tested for all kinds of gene mutations.
Read the full article at St. George News.
To participate in the HerediGene study or more information visit https://t.co/du2IBiKbie
— Intermountain (@Intermountain) June 12, 2019
