Astrogenomics: big data, old problems, old solutions?

Abstract

The ominous warnings of a data deluge in the life sciences from high-throughput DNA sequencing data are being supplanted by a second deluge, of clichés bemoaning our collective scientific fate unless we address the genomic data tsunami. It is imperative that we explore the many facets of the genome, not just sequence but also transcriptional and epigenetic variability, integrating these observations in order to attain a genuine understanding of how genes function, towards a goal of genomics-based personalized medicine. Determining any individual's genomic properties requires comparison to many others, sifting out the specific from the trends, requiring access to the many in order to yield information relevant to the few. This is the central big data challenge in genomics that still requires some sort of resolution. Is there a practical, feasible way of directly connecting the scientific community to this data universe?