A blockchain for genes

Could we store genetic data in a blockchain?
14 March 2018

Interview with 

David Koepsell, Encrypgen

CHAIN.jpeg

Chain and padlock

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If you’ve been paying any attention to technology news lately, you’ve probably heard of something called a Blockchain - a giant spreadsheet that’s distributed in many places in the Cloud and remembers every edit you ever make. Eager companies are proposing blockchains as the solution to all kinds of problems, from banking and legal transactions to shopping and food safety.

So it was only a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of applying blockchain technology to genomic data, as Kat Arney found out when she spoke to David Koepsell, CEO of the company Encrypgen at the Festival of Genomics. According to David, this could provide a solution to some of the privacy and access issues that concern people when it comes to maintaining control over our own genetic data.

Comments

Very interesting. Exciting to be involved with the frontier of genomics. I think this is going to be a HUGE part of our future and our kids future. I like to think of a comparison as the state of cars and road travel in 1918. So much progress is going to be made over the next 100 years!

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