As of january 2015, the nih expects investigators to obtain the informed (valid) consent of research participants in nih -funded genetic research for broad research use of data and data sharing, even if the cell lines or specimens are:

The correct answer is: "As of January 2015, the NIH expects investigators to obtain the informed (valid) consent of research participants in NIH - funded genetic research for broad research use of data and data sharing, even if the cell lines or specimens are de-identified."

Explanation:

De-identification refers to the process of keep hidden someone's personal information. In general, people who participate in a research want their personal information (name, ID, address, phone number, date of birth) maintain anonymous. For that reason, the NIH expects investigators to obtain the informed (valid) consent of research participants even if they had decided to keep their samples as de-identified.

good question. i'll be looking into that. (this is a joke sir)