San Diego’s Scripps Translational Science Institute announced its decision to conduct a study that will help determine whether people who undergo genetic testing and receive information on their genetic risks decide to change their lifestyle and behaviours and seek further medical evaluation and preventive strategies.

The Scripps study will enrol 10,000 Scripps Health hospital chain employees, family members and friends. Participants will receive a scan of their genome and an analysis of their genetic risks for health conditions like diabetes, obesity, heart attack and some types of cancer. The research will asses the changes in lifestyle and behaviours over a 20-year period.

The study is backed by three health-care and technology companies: Affymetrix Inc, Navigenics Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Affymetrix will run the genome scan and Navigenics will provide interpretation of the results to the participants. Participants’ analysis and results will be stored on Microsoft’s Health Vault, a Web-based electronic medical-record system provided by Microsoft.

Participants will receive guidance on how to use the scan results to improve health outcomes, such as suggestions for breast and colon cancer screenings if they are at high risk for a form of breast cancer, or colon cancer. Researchers will register the results of each individual after three months, at the end of the first year and then annually for the next 19 years.

At the end of the study, Scripps hopes to offer an answer to the dilemma about the long-term psychological reactions and behaviours of people undergoing genetic testing. In other words, what do people do after they learn their genetic risk levels of developing medical conditions like diabetes, cancer, or Alzheimer’s disease?