Google expands its tech branches and partners with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, preparing to launch a Genome Analysis Toolkit that will be available on Google’s Cloud Platform. This special addition will be available as a service and it’s meant to help scientists to quickly analyze genomic sequencing data. Furthermore, it will be offered to researchers and scientists at no cost.
Google has previously launched a special program under the name of Google Genomics, a cloud computing platform for life science research, a discrete part of the Google Cloud Platform. This is the first year when Google Genomics sees the light of day, along with the Genome Analysis initiative.
The main aim of the new partnership with two of the most respected institutions worldwide centers on improving DNA analysis to cure diseases through a more personalized healthcare, based on individual DNA characteristics. To achieve the bold goal, a giant amount of data will be needed to establish the way in which various treatments can impact a certain DNA profile. This can be done in the future with the capacities of cloud computing.
Amazon and Microsoft are already pitching Google for a future venture, but that’s an unsteady ground for both giants, as generating and storing data is only a small part of the solution to improving healthcare. The most important part will be played by high organizations and institutions able to organize and efficiently manipulate the entire pool of gathered information. Thus, MIT and Harvard will most probably be the masterminds behind the computing performance.
DNA analysis generates enormous amounts of data, as the raw information of a single person needs more than 100 GB of storage. MIT has sequenced and genotyped more than 1.4 million biological samples up to the present moment and the figures are getting higher, once Google brings genome analysis to its cloud platform.
Google will ensure all the technological infrastructure for development, allowing researchers and scientists to store and use data from Google’s giant databases. IT infrastructure will be completely covered by the tech giant, allowing it to expand its informational branches to the medical realm.
The service will take shape by configuring the technical specifications and demands of the software but for the moment it doesn’t have a price. For starters, the costs will be based on the cloud computing fees Google is practicing.
Large scale genomic information accelerates scientific progress in cancer, diabetes, psychiatric disorders and the list can go on with affections and disorders that can now be properly investigated. Storing, analyzing and managing all the data has become a challenge for biomedical researchers and Google now plays an important part by offering all its tools and space to help medicine evolve.
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