jody greenstone miller, danielle belton, and katha pollitt. thank you. >> thank you. >> brown: in california, researchers are sifting through a huge collection of genetic data that could be a key to unlocking vital information for doctors and patients. newshour correspondent spencer michels reports. >> reporter: every year, 240,000 men in america learn that they have prostate cancer. reggie watkins, a retired parole officer and a patient at kaiser permanente in oakland, california, is one of them. >> the first biopsy showed a slight cancer, slight amount of cancer. the second biopsy showed no cancer. i do think there's a genetic situation in my family. i'm not the only and my brother is not the only one in the family to have this problem. >> reporter: until recently, watkins' family history and his unique genetic makeup would have played a minor role-- if any-- in his medical care. but thanks in part to a massive, groundbreaking new study under way at kaiser and the university of california san francisco, information gleaned from patients' gen