1) Nebula Genomics
Ever since the Human Genome Project was completed, the price of genome sequencing has been free-falling. In January 2017, DNA sequencing giant Illumina unveiled a new machine that the company says is “expected one day” to order up your whole genome for less than $100. The White Paper on Nebula Genomics states that the opportunities around personal genome sequencing will soon create a genomic data market worth billions of dollars.
The team behind Nebula Genomics believes that this market will have similar characteristics and challenges as any market where data is involved. And what’s the best technology to solve data security issues and to ensure that data gets from the source to its end-user without any middlemen? You are right; it is the blockchain. The company, in which the guru of modern genomics, George Church, co-founder of Veritas Genetics is also involved, will use blockchain technology to enhance genomic data protection, enable buyers to efficiently acquire genomic data and address the challenges of genomic big data. Let’s remember this last expression, as we will hear about it in the future!
2) Doc.AI
The Palo Alto-based start-up was founded by the entrepreneurial duo Walter and Sam De Brouwer in 2016. Here, you can also find George Church among its scientific advisors. Doc.AI visualizes a (near) future that is consumer-controlled, blockchain-based, AI-powered and centered around all kinds of biological data, including genome or microbiome.
What does it mean in practice? The platform using natural language processing as well as computer vision and securing data through blockchain technology generates insights from medical data. Anyone can launch a „data trial” – a collection of health data on the platform for a particular cause or generally, then data scientists are tasked to connect the data dots and make predictive models. As a result, each will get insight into his or her own data which he or she can bring to the doctor. A great example how to apply the power of community together with AI and blockchain for precision medicine more efficiently.