If you have kidney disease
Your diagnosis is powerful.
Comparing your DNA with people who don’t have kidney disease helps researchers uncover what causes it. You can’t undo a diagnosis, but you can put it to work so the next person is caught sooner.
RESEARCH STUDY OF THE GENETICS OF KIDNEY DISEASE
Help solve a disease most people never see coming.
One saliva sample helps researchers find what causes kidney disease — and you get a free ancestry report. Whether you're living with kidney disease or feel completely fine, you're exactly who they need.
Join in 15 minutesNo needlesNo appointmentsFree ancestry report
A TRUE KIND OF STORY
I want to be the person I didn’t have. — Ray
HOW YOU FIT
However you come to this, you help.
If you are healthy or if you aren't sure
You're the baseline.
Researchers need DNA from people without kidney disease to see what’s different in those who have it. Without you, there’s nothing to compare.
Either way, it's the same 15-minute kit — and the same free ancestry report.
Take actionWHAT IS THIS RESEARCH? HOW DOES IT WORK?
How analyzing DNA can lead
to real medicine.
Sometimes people are naturally born protected from a certain disease. If researchers can figure out why or how, they can use that knowledge to help protect everyone. That’s what happened with the PCSK9 gene:
The clue
A unique few never developed high cholesterol, no matter how they lived.
Investigate
Scientists analyzed their DNA along with thousands of others to find the small differences between individuals.
Find
With enough participants, scientists found one small genetic change that kept cholesterol low for life.
Translate
This discovery led to a new class of heart medicine that can help protect millions of people from heart disease.
About a decade from clue to medicine.Now it’s kidney disease’s turn.
Based on the discovery of loss-of-function variants in the PCSK9 gene, linked to lifelong low LDL cholesterol and lower cardiovascular risk (Cohen et al., NEJM, 2006), which led to approved PCSK9-inhibitor medicines.
Illustrates how genetic research leads to treatments — not a promise of a specific outcome for this study.
HERE’S THE WHOLE COMMITMENT
What it actually means to join
What you do
- Give a saliva sample and answer a short health questionnaire.
- About 15 minutes at home, and you only do it once.
- No needles or clinic visits,
What you get
- A free ancestry report as a thank-you. It’s not a medical test, so it won’t include a diagnosis or health results.
- A part in finding what causes kidney disease
- You can withdraw the study at any time
HOW IT WORKS
Three steps, one tube.
Step 1
Sign up
Answer a few questions online. We mail you a free saliva kit.
Step 2
Spit in the tube
A saliva sample done at home. It takes about 15 minutes, with no needles or doctor visits required.
Step 3
Mail it back
Postage is prepaid. That's the whole commitment.
PRIVACY AND TRUST
You're in control
of your data.
It's your data, so you call the shots. From the moment you register your kit, you have meaningful choice in everything you do.
Transparency on how we process your information.
Strict internal policies to prevent data misuse.
Constant monitoring by data experts.
Approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Fifteen minutes. From home.
Ray found out by accident. The next person shouldn't have to.
Whether you feel completely fine or were just diagnosed, you can be the key to what researchers are missing that leads to the next screening test, medicine, or prevention.
Join the studyPlus, get a free ancestry report as a thank-you.
Stay in touch
Not ready yet? Follow along.
Get updates on what researchers are learning about what causes kidney disease, and how it could be caught sooner. When you're ready, joining takes about 15 minutes.
Concerned about your kidneys? Talk to your doctor — learn about the risk factors and the two simple tests at kidney.org.