What big data can tell you about your genome

Faster and cheaper computing power and software has meant that decoding work on the human genome, which took months of painstaking study a decade ago, can now be done in hours.

As of October last year, the going rate for sequencing a genome was $6,618. Hardly a snip, but compare that to $7 million five years ago, and a staggering $95.3 million in 2001. Sequencing a single genome these days means analysing half a terabyte of data – very Big Data indeed.

Personal genomics is definitely a daunting new world of information for which there are as yet few meaningful applications and a minefield of ethical questions. What does it mean to have one of the genes that predispose for breast cancer? And might that affect someone’s ability to get health insurance?

View the original article here: What Big Data can tell you about your genome – and why it matters

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