
506 | CHAPTER 29 Emerging Technologies and the Generation of Knowledge
these populations that had real and direct meaning to their lives, and adopt the
best practices of their “virtual peers,” so as to derive the same health benefits.
In 2005, when this scenario was written, these were speculative ideas. However,
just 2 years later, Nobel laureate James Watson, codiscoverer of the DNA double
helix and father of the Human Genome Project, become the first human to receive
the data encompassing his entire personal genome sequence (Williams, 2007).
Microsoft’s HealthVault, along with Google Health, are now actual public online
personal health record systems. ...