Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Genome Browser & Big Data

Each year about 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer globally. Cancer is the second leading killer of Americans and takes about 1,500 people a day. With this being said, researchers are frantically trying to discover a cure or at least treatments that can produce better outcomes and hopefully lessen the high number of deaths caused by cancer each year.

Earlier this year the folks behind Unreal Engine challenged VR companies to develop new ways to visualize Big Data in a way it can be more easily understood and utilized. One of the big ideas that came from this challenge is the genome browser submitted by Hammerhead. This program is a virtualization that will allow researchers to browse through an organisms genome and access data at each individual gene.

I would have never though to bring the video gaming industry in on Big Data, but in this case it is brilliant! Game developers are highly trained in creating 3D visuals and are the best candidates to visually represent data in a way that non data analysts can understand.

With this type of technology, researchers will be able to plug in the enormous amount of data they obtain with each study and have it displayed in a way they can more easily see connections. The more connections researchers can make, the closer they become to finding treatments and cures for illnesses such as cancer.

It is truly incredible what we can accomplish when unlikely parties work together towards a common goal. To learn more about how Big Data is impacting the world, Click Here!

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