Google has now partnered with the Broad Institute, a biomedical and genomic research institute located in Massachusetts. Google Genomics is Google’s new cloud based platform that will help the science community store, manage, and process large amounts of genomic data.
The main part of this partnership is based on improving DNA analysis to help cure diseases through a more personalized healthcare system, one based on an individual’s DNA makeup. This will require large amounts of data that will show how various treatments impact a specific DNA makeup. This can all be done through this new cloud-sharing system.
TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE COLLIDE
A number of other big tech companies are looking into becoming a part of this lucrative business, but storing and sharing this data is only a small portion of the solution to improving the standard of healthcare. The Broad Institute, which works closely with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard will be the analysts behind this computing system.
According to an earlier blog post from Google, this collaboration will “propel biomedical research, using deep bioinformatics expertise, powerful analytics, and massive computing infrastructure.”
The first joint result from this union is the moving of the Broad Institute’s Genome Analysis Toolkit to the Google Cloud Platform.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR HEALTHCARE?
The large scaled genomic information will accelerate the scientific progress in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders. This will eliminate some of the problems that many biomedical researchers encounter.
CAN ANYBODY SEE THIS?
Google’s cloud based version is initially limited in availability, but the long term goal is to let any genomic researcher store, add and analyze data in the cloud system.
GOOGLE IS ON THE MOVE
The step to adding this cloud to aid in genomic research isn’t Google’s first big move when it comes to medical research and progress. Earlier this year, it was announced that they would work with Stanford University to use machine learning and large data to aid in drug discovery. These partnerships will not be over yet, as large technology companies work with universities to make big moves in science.
