December 26, 2014 at 14:22Google helps find autism's genetic code
For the past 15 years, Google has worked on pattern recognition in the chaos of information on the network, and now it will apply its skills to the search for the genetic causes of autism. For this, the genomes of 10,000 people with autism and their families will be processed.
The project will use the Google Genomics tool , which works within the framework of the Google Clouds platform. Since DNA sequencing began to be made faster and cheaper - maybe even around 2.5 thousand US dollars - it became much easier to create a genome base. Google will allow researchers to upload data to the company's servers and use the capabilities of "cloud" technologies to work with them.
David Glaser, CTO of Google Genomics and Google Plus, says that instead of searching for keywords, researchers will search for individual parts and sequences of genomes and find sections with the same options. Since sequencing data from one human genome can take up to 100 gigabytes (by the way, the assembled human genome weighs about 3 GB already), the possibility of using Google will be extremely useful for collaboration between researchers. Liz Feld, President of Autism Speaks: "It's more efficient than sending wagons with hard drives to each other."
Earlier this year, Google began testingGoogle Glass to help people with Parkinson's disease. Patients use an application reminiscent of taking medication, going to the doctor, the need to swallow, or “wake up” the owner if he “slowed down”.
Autism is a disorder that occurs as a result of impaired brain development and is characterized by a pronounced and comprehensive deficit of social interaction and communication, as well as limited interests and repetitive actions. (Wikipedia)
The project will use the Google Genomics tool , which works within the framework of the Google Clouds platform. Since DNA sequencing began to be made faster and cheaper - maybe even around 2.5 thousand US dollars - it became much easier to create a genome base. Google will allow researchers to upload data to the company's servers and use the capabilities of "cloud" technologies to work with them.
David Glaser, CTO of Google Genomics and Google Plus, says that instead of searching for keywords, researchers will search for individual parts and sequences of genomes and find sections with the same options. Since sequencing data from one human genome can take up to 100 gigabytes (by the way, the assembled human genome weighs about 3 GB already), the possibility of using Google will be extremely useful for collaboration between researchers. Liz Feld, President of Autism Speaks: "It's more efficient than sending wagons with hard drives to each other."
Earlier this year, Google began testingGoogle Glass to help people with Parkinson's disease. Patients use an application reminiscent of taking medication, going to the doctor, the need to swallow, or “wake up” the owner if he “slowed down”.