Citizen scientists are an underrated source of observations on medical conditions. They frequently offer researchers a head start in the hunt for biomarkers (see, for example, the tentative identification of volatile indicators of early Parkinson's disease: go.nature.com/wggoss).
The precision and high-throughput capability of analytical technology drives most advances in clinical diagnostics (L. M. McShane et al. Nature 502, 317–320; 2013). Analytical science and its subdiscipline metabolomics (the study of chemical fingerprints left by cellular processes) are also crucial for guiding clinical decisions (see go.nature.com/l8pcde). These tools are set to be valuable for investigating and tapping into citizen scientists' previously unreported medical phenomena.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rattray, N. Citizen scientists can aid diagnostics. Nature 528, 193 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/528193c
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/528193c