GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Combining the Cloud, Genomics to Save Lives

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 07-28-10 | Comments

IBM and a top university are teaming up to combine cloud computing with genomics in the interest of improving care/prevention of cancer, malaria and other deadly diseases.

Arguably, two of the more significant advancements in medicine and technology in the last decade have been, respectively, genomics research and cloud computing. And, thanks to a recently announced partnership between IBM and the University of Missouri, these two high-profile developments are coming together. The result may end up saving countless lives.

The collaboration of genomics research and cloud computing could lead to better access to information about genes that cause life-threatening diseases.

The University of Missouri will use IBM's high-performance computing technologies to enable large-scale sharing and collaboration in bioinformatics research projects. A number of these projects involve the study of genome sequences in plants and animals to help improve the quality and quantity of food production. Researchers are studying bovine genes, for example, in the interest of increasing reproductive efficiency in livestock and growing corn in drought conditions. Other projects are aimed at fighting the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria and H1N1. In the end, researchers hope to develop a genomics cloud to improve the way patients are diagnosed. Such a development would bring human genome sequencing and analysis into a clinical setting for the first time, enabling a more personalized approach to medicine.

In the first phase of the project, IBM will provide university researchers with an IBM iDataPlex high-performance computing system and related software that will integrate with the university's existing computing infrastructure. This computing power will significantly speed the process of DNA sequencing and analysis of human, plant and animal genes. The iDataPlex can collect and store massive amounts of data that result from the sequencing, providing researchers with more reference points.

The second phase will involve the University of Missouri and IBM working together to create a prototype cloud computing environment for genomics research. In the final phase, the genomics cloud will become fully operational and get expanded to a regional domain. This first-of-its-kind cloud would allow sharing of bioinformatics resources among universities and institutions across a larger geographic area. A "Life Sciences Corridor" could potentially form throughout the Midwest.

DNA sequencing�the process of determining the exact order of the billions of chemical building blocks that make up DNA�is a massive computational challenge that requires an extremely powerful computing platform. Already, specific genetic-level changes in cancer cells drive critical treatment decisions for breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and leukemia. But this process has often been too time-consuming. Doctors must send patients' DNA samples to labs for sequencing and analysis, which can take weeks, wasting valuable time that could otherwise be spent on treatment. With access to the genomics cloud, a hospital's onsite medical staff would be able to sequence and analyze the DNA in a matter of minutes. This allows them to detect genetic conditions that make some people susceptible to certain kinds of diseases or medical conditions.
"This collaboration with IBM allows for access to critical high-performance computing resources that we need to process massive data sets and apply increasingly more sophisticated bioinformatics tools and technologies," says Gordon Springer, associate professor in the university's Computer Science Department (Springer also is scientific director of the University of Missouri Bioinformatics Consortium). "The availability of these resources will enable discoveries that will benefit mankind and the environment."Arguably, two of the more significant advancements in medicine and technology in the last decade have been, respectively, genomics research and cloud computing. And, thanks to a recently announced partnership between IBM and the University of Missouri, these two high-profile developments are coming together. The result may end up saving countless lives.