The foundation of all contemporary genomics research was born from analyzing Big Data. Dr. Robert Green, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, director of Genomes To People (G2P) research program at BWH, and associate member of the Broad Institute, puts the combination of Big Data and genomics simply: “Genomics is Big Data, Big Data are genomics and this is, I think, clearly one of the cutting edges of the ways in which Big Data are going to become integrated into the practice of medicine.” However, he maintains that there is much room for improvement. He cited what he calls “tractable” issues as computational powers, storage, and simply getting enough people sequenced so that there are a huge reservoir of data to draw on.
However, he believes some issues are more systemic. He says, “A more difficult obstacle is that genomic information is incredibly more valuable if you can match it phenotype information. What is in the EHR, or more accurately, what every human being is experiencing in terms of health. That is really much harder than it sounds. What’s in the EHR is not always accurate; it’s often incomplete, and it’s often underreported.”
On the state of investing in Big Data and genomics, John Baresky of Boston Software Systems, which focuses on data solutions in healthcare, highlights the importance of skills on both the technology side and the clinician side because of the vast data with which technicians and analysts contend. He says “if you are really trying to reach that endpoint, it takes not just money, but it takes brainpower; it takes good analytical resources.”
Genuity Science (formerly WuXi NextCODE) is a Cambridge-based company, with offices in Shanghai and Reykjavik, that raised a $165M Series B announced on September 5, 2017. The company, with the most sequenced genomes than any other, aims to create a world standard platform for genomic data.Their online platform allows for a massive network capabilities in visualizing full sequences as well as a search engine and a unique database that holds the genomes. The company incorporates study design, sequencing, secondary analysis, storage, interpretation and scalable analytics.
“Genome sequencing is rapidly becoming the biggest source of data on the planet, and at Genuity Science we are building the global standard platform for turning that data into better medicine, healthcare and wellness for people around the world,” says Rob Brainin, CEO of Genuity Science. “It’s a vision as big as the challenge. With world-leading technology and operations in the US, China and Europe – serving national genome projects, pharmaceutical companies, pediatric hospitals and consumers globally – we feel we are in the unique and privileged position to be able realize it.”
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