Mary O’Connor had long wanted researchers to decipher her genetic code to better understand a deadly heart condition that runs in her family. But the 52-year-old woman balked at providing a saliva or blood sample to researchers because they would neither promise to give her the results nor pay her for her trouble.
O’Connor, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, finally submitted her sample in March after a start-up medical company, DNAsimple, gave her $50 for it—no windfall, but enough to meet the monthly co-payments for three of her medicines. Plus, she’ll get another payment every time a new sample is needed.
