The researchers plan to recruit 20,000 people as test subjects, all of whom will undergo a "Cold Pressor Test" that requires them to submerge their hands in cold water for three minutes. That will give the team a way to gauge each person's pain threshold. The participants also have to answer questions about drug tolerance and how sensitive they are to pain, as well as to assess how much pain they think they'll be in for a bunch of theoretical scenarios.

In addition to figuring out the role of genetics in tolerance, Emily Drabant Conley, 23andMe's VP of business development, said that results from the study may also "help advance the use of precision medicine in pain management." Hopefully, being able to tailor treatments for every person could also prevent addiction to pain killers. It has become a serious problem in recent years, affecting millions of people not just in the US, but around the globe.