People can donate bio-data to science

People eager to share personal information beyond what's on their Facebook profile now have another outlet: an online platform that was set to launch on Tuesday allowing them to give scientists information about their genomes, gut bacteria and other biological data.

The so-called Open Humans Network aims to make more health-related data available for scientists to mine for discoveries and also help volunteers make that data more accessible to more researchers. Rather than volunteering for only a single study, participants would allow any legitimate researcher to use their data, even though that poses potential threats to privacy.

"It's like open-sourcing your body," said project director Jason Bobe.