基因君官网2016年2月3日/生物谷BIOON/–耶鲁大学研究人员指出，随着基因组信息变得更加有医学价值，在医学记录中这些数据的储存将不可避免地变得更加脆弱。尽管大规模的基因数据在研究上是无价之宝，但是另一方面，黑客也能够利用这些数据中隐含的微妙关系揭露出与病人相关的敏感信息，如疾病诊断结果。
论文共同作者、生物医学信息学教授Mark Gerstein说，“在某种意义上，在披露来自匿名数据源的个人医学信息的问题上，我们如今处在比我们之前所认为的更大的风险之中。”
Gerstein和另一名论文共同作者Arif Harmanci在2016年2月1日发表在Nature Methods期刊上的研究中，描述了如何能够通过“链接攻击(linking attack)”从私人数据库中挖掘身份信息。
在一种假设的情形下，政敌可能对候选人留在鸡尾酒杯上的唾液中的DNA进行测序，然而从一个匿名的癌症研究数据库中找到与之相匹配的基因特征。其政治代言人就能够利用这种关联性不仅识别出这名候选是一名癌症存活者，而且也会精确查明这个候选人的其他医学疾病易患性，甚至其家族的疾病易患性。
研究人员说，这种从匿名数据源中获得个人信息的风险只会随着可获得的基因组信息量增加而增加。
Gerstein说，“将基因组信息贡献给不同的数据源从个人而言可能是一种良好的和高尚的目标，如用于医学研究，但是当它们汇总在一起时，它们也可能成为一种有毒的混合物。”
Gerstein强调没有人应当阻止自愿提供基因组信息用于医学研究，但是科学家们应当采取更多的措施避免通过这种链接攻击披露信息。
他说，“如果我们说这是私人东西，我们就应当采取必要的措施确保这种信息保密。”（生物谷 Bioon.com）
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Quantification of private information leakage from phenotype-genotype data: linking attacks
Arif Harmanci & Mark Gerstein
Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) often leads to ocular infection including endophthalmitis and chorioretinitis. However, the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of ocular infection complicated by SAB are largely unknown. We retrospectively analyzed the incidence and risk factors of ocular involvement in a prospective cohort of patients with SAB at a tertiary-care hospital. Ophthalmologists reviewed the fundoscopic findings and classified the ocular infection as endophthalmitis or chorioretinitis. During the 5 year study period, 1,109 patients had SAB and 612 (55%) who underwent ophthalmic examination within 14 days after SAB were analyzed. Of these 612 patients, 56 (9%, 95% confidence interval [CI], 7-12%) had ocular involvement; 15 (2.5%) with endophthalmitis and 41 (6.7%) with chorioretinitis. In multivariate analysis, infective endocarditis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.74; 95% CI, 2.25-14.64) and metastatic infection (aOR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.29-4.39) were independent risk factors for ocular involvement. Of the 47 patients with ocular involvement who could communicate, only 17 (36%) had visual disturbance. Two-thirds (10/15) of the patients with endophthalmitis were treated with intravitreal antibiotics combined with parenteral antibiotics, whereas all the patients with chorioretinitis were treated with systemic antibiotics only. No one became blinded. Among 42 patients with follow-up assessment available, the ocular lesion improved in 29 (69%) but remained stationary in the others. Ocular involvement was independently associated with 30-day mortality after SAB. Ocular involvement is not uncommon in patients with SAB. Routine ophthalmic examination should be considered in patients with infective endocarditis or metastatic infection caused by SAB.