Encrypgen Blazes New Frontier For Genetic Marketplaces

For many researchers, obtaining access to genetic data can be quite challenging. If they’re seeking to tap into a specific population set, they typically have to recruit subjects into a study, which can be long, arduous, and expensive.

Then there’s the study approval process for tissue samples, including consent from the participants. Next, the samples will need to be sequenced to obtain the genetic data, another expensive step. It is at this point that the researchers can begin connecting together the data they’re seeking from the subjects they recruited.

On the consumer side of the equation, millions of people who have been genetically tested now have access to their own data. This data is then sold by testing companies for research studies, often without the person fully realizing it, or even being compensated for it. In the meantime these companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of that data.

Enter Encrypgen, a DNA marketplace that’s on a crusade to upend this prevailing narrative. Their product, Gene-Chain, is a free market ecosystem that allows people who have had genetic testing sell that data directly to researchers, in a simpler, cost-effective, and more profitable way for both parties.

Encrypgen: The Future of Tokenized DNA Marketplaces

The DNA token, used as cryptocurrency on the Encrypgen DNA marketplace, is the foundation of this transaction system. All transactions are immutably captured and retrievable, and payable on the system ensuring frictionless commerce on the platform. Moreover, there is no need to pay fees to any service to conduct payments.

The token is widely available and fungible to other currencies as well, providing users with a way to get paid or pay for data without worrying about credit card forms or other complex, costly payment systems online.

Asked to describe how blockchain is integrated into the inner workings of Encrypgen, founder and CEO Dave Koepsell had this to say:

“Currently it stores metadata about the user and completes transactions. There are significant barriers to doing more for now, such as putting the genomic data itself on a blockchain, due to regulatory and privacy issues, especially in Europe.”

Koepsell says that this involves keeping an eye on tech such as IPFS (Interplanetary File System) and looking at how, in the future, blockchains can be used for the data itself, which would be great, he says, if it can scale well and not compromise privacy. He believes that the future will demand that genomic blockchains be able to process the data, thus the reason for this being the target of their design efforts in the future.

Forward Acceleration Into The Future

Partnerships with DNA and health service related product and service providers are a key strategic element of Encrypgen’s progression moving forward.

“Our partners who provide testing and other services all agree with our philosophy of putting the user in control and letting them profit. Forward-thinking companies like these are asking to work with us because they want to see the de-monopolization of data and a future in which individuals are in full control and profit from their data. Over time, the range of companies in the genomic space choosing to work with us and aligned with our point of view will doubtless continue to grow, especially as users continue to demand more control and ownership of their data in general.”

Another recent advancement supporting Encrypgen’s rapid trajectory is their website redesign. Notes Koepsell:

“We greatly simplified the experience on our site and more people are signing up and becoming users as a result. Our traffic has increased significantly and usability appears to have improved, based upon use-metrics. In the meantime, we are still exploring how to make the platform more friendly, but even there we are seeing a lot of people interact with it positively.”

Koepsell, in particular, is very excited by the new custom survey feature that allows researchers to seek more info from those from whom they have bought data, and eventually to further pay them for that. This, he says, will make the ongoing interaction between users and researcher more rewarding while further enabling better data collection and scientific discovery.

In terms of the roadmap for EncrypGen over the next 12-18 months, Koepsell had this to offer

“This coming year we will release a new B2B product as part of our Microsoft Startup partnership, and this will involve some of our other partners as well. This means we will be listed on the Microsoft Store, which will give us greater reach and visibility. Moreover, we are part of a research consortium that will investigate the use of genomic data in personalized medicine.”

He says that this a huge partnership for Encrypgen and having the Memorandum of Understanding in hand now for that research consortium means that their efforts will gain tens of thousands of new users essentially for free, on top of those we are gaining through our marketing.

He concludes: “Since we will be profitable at between 35k and 50k users, this is great news for us and we are looking forward to the start of that study.”

Michael Scott
15 July, 2019
Cryptocurrency, Editor's Picks
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Blockchain in Genomics: Scripting the Genetic Story of Encrypgen

According to a report by Zion Market Research, the global genomics market is expected to be valued at around USD 41.2 billion by 2025. This report cites growth in the number of genomics research projects, declining sequencing costs, expanded genomics applications, and increased activity in drug discovery and molecular biology as among the main factors fueling the global genomics space.

With the rise of collaborative partnerships between research institutions and companies along with increased attention directed toward personalized medicine, new advancement opportunities abound. Amid these promising developments, however, are growing concerns surrounding private genomics companies whose sole intent is to sell data for research and commercial purposes. This process has the effect of exploiting consumer data for profits.

Where Blockchain in Genomics Come Together

Today, a new movement impacting consumers and their genetic data is garnering worldwide attention. At the epicenter of this activity is Encrypgen, the world’s first genomic data marketplace.

This state-of-the-art blockchain network delivers a world-class, next-generation ecosystem for the sharing, protection, and re-marketing of genomic data. As a blockchain in genomics applictaion EncrypGen seeks to give people control over their genomic data, allowing them to share information and profit from the transaction.

Powered by the blockchain, consumers can safely and securely upload their raw genomic data file on Encrypgen’s Gene-Chain. The company’s security-centric model is seen as a major advancement during a time when data privacy issues have impacted prominent genetic data repositories such as 23andMe and Ancestry.

The DNA of Encrypgen Launch

The first demo of EncrypGen took place in 2017 at the Bio-IT world expo in Boston, with the official launch taking place in 2018. During this time, Encrypgen converted from its original multichain platform to the Ethereum ECR20 token, a move that allowed users to monetize their genomic data.

Token value is derived from the sale of genomic data to licensed institutions. This data is privately and securely stored on the Gene-Chain. Once uploaded, researchers in need of a diverse set of genomic data can purchase the data directly from consumers with the latter’s consent. Consumers then get paid for supporting research around better treatment and cures through the sharing of these DNA results.

For the Love of Science (and Philosophy)

Asked to share his thoughts on the genesis of Encrypgen, co-founder and CEO David Koepsell had this to share:

“I grew up at the tail end of the space age, fascinated by the Apollo program, Skylab and the Space Shuttle program. And being that I was an early adopter of computers, my interests in that realm inspired my views about the role of distributed computing in science.”

He says that the U.S. decline as a space-faring nation as well as the gradual de-funding of big science, culminating in the failure to complete the Superconducting Super Collider, helped push him toward new views on how big science could be done.

“I carried forward my computing interests in law school and while getting my Ph.D. in Philosophy. This led me to begin thinking about networks and the distribution of computation on a grand scale, as well as about the nature of “cyberspace.”

Koepsell’s Ph.D. thesis became the book The Ontology of Cyberspace, which was one of the earliest works on the emerging medium of the Internet. After teaching ethics and technology for some time in Holland, he moved to Mexico with his family where he became interested in combining his varied interests in science and distributed computing. This led him to pursue cryptocurrency mining as a hobby, paving the way to working with his spouse to create something practical for science and regular people to control their health data.

Says Koepsell: “Dr. Gonzalez is also my wife. She and I have been writing together on issues of genomics and policy for more than a decade. Most recently, before forming Encrypgen, we co-authored some academic pieces regarding genetic data and privacy.”

He says that the two of them harbored growing concerns over the tension between the scientific need for more and more data to do basic and potentially life-saving care, and the increasingly worrisome issue of third parties and the re-identification of genetic data using public data. This latter tendency, he notes, is highlighted by the recent use of publicly available data on the part of law enforcement to find suspects in decades-old cold cases.

“My wife (Dr. Gonzalez) is the scientist, and I am the professional philosopher who has long written on and lectured about ethics and technology. But as a computer nerd who had been playing with cryptocurrency mining for a while, I saw that there was nexus, one that led us to the question of whether we might be able to solve the problems we had been writing about with technology.”

In terms of the philosophical underpinnings of his work, Koepsell says he’s long been interested in questions around the existence and nature of rights.

Says Koepsell: “Much of my work as a professional philosopher has involved dealing with this problem. All three of my philosophical monographs have been attempts to tackle our relation to objects, types, tokens, artifacts, and ideas with a view to understanding how those relations might derive from or create rights of some kind,”

Koepsell admits that he eventually came to a point in the course of that argument that rights over tokens, or the physical manifestation of ideas, were grounded in brute facts, or the very nature of the relations of people to things. Meanwhile, rights over ideas, he says, were not. This led him to come out against intellectual property, but strongly in favor of property rights.

This, he says, extends to our own bodies.

“Our claims to the use and profit from our own bodies, including its data, are similarly grounded. Ultimately, the data should be free to use for science, and markets are best at creating incentives for the remuneration of the use of data at fair market prices. So this ethical and ontological backgrounds leads necessarily to the sort of model we adopted with the Gene-Chain.”

Charting The Path Ahead

In terms of Encrypgen’s future, Koepsell notes that the direct-to-consumer testing market according to Koepsell is enormous.

“Nearly 20 million people worldwide will have been tested by 2020. The size of the genomics market as a whole is estimated to soon reach 20 billion USD worldwide. Most of the money being made is in testing and the use and application of basic research to new treatments and drugs.”

He goes on to say that money has been made on the backs of those who have done mostly recreationally, direct-to-consumer testing without fully realizing that their data is often sold to companies by the testers for use in that research, sometimes for millions of dollars of curated data sets.

Asked about Encrypgen unique solution to this knotty issue, Koepsell remarks:

“Our marketplace removes the barriers to paying the individuals whose data is being used, and the bottleneck posed by the fact that the DTC testing companies have been monopolizing the data selling market and thus setting their own prices. As well, there is a significant need for more data from non-white Europeans whose samples to date have dominated this market.”

He concludes: “An ultimate goal of ours is to spread the wealth of data use by rewarding people in the developing world, offsetting the costs of testing and putting much need wealth in their hands, while helping to diversify genomic science.”

Michael Scott
17 June, 2019
Editor's Picks, Featured
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Charting The Blockchain of DNA

David Koepsell has been examining the future of genomic data for nearly a decade. An academic philosopher, entrepreneur, and retired attorney, Koepsell keeps his fingers in the world of science, technology, ethics, and public policy.

He is also the author of Who Owns You, now in its second edition, a widely acclaimed look at the philosophical and legal problems associated with patenting human genes.

Feature Interview With David Koepsell, CEO of EncrypGen

Koepsell and his long-time collaborator and partner, Dr. Vanessa Gonzalez — launched a blockchain-centric startup called EncrypGen, which provides next-generation software for genomic data. In the interview below, Koepsell elaborates on the exciting advancements taking place in the genomic world and how blockchain will likely play a part in it.

Tell us a little about your path from philosophy into the genomics world and how you discovered blockchain?

I was actually a lawyer, finishing my Ph.D. in Philosophy while practicing law. The combination of philosophy and law got me engaged and interested in two main subfields: ontology and ethics. I also became interested in patents and copyrights, and when I met my wife, who is a genomic scientist, I started reading about genomics. We were interested in solving issues relating to privacy and genetic data, as well as making it more available for science. This led us to the idea of combining genomics with blockchain tech. I found seed money and founded EncrypGen, and hired a developer to get a prototype made. Two years later, we launched the Gene-Chain.

How do you see the worlds of blockchain and genomics intersecting?

Genomics holds great promise in the field of healthcare. The future of medicine, we believe, has tremendous potential for greater efficiencies through targeted treatments, much of which will depend on knowing more about a patient’s genes. Blockchain allows us to do a number of things that are helping this become a reality: share and secure data through encryption, track the use of genetic data, and even subsidize or recompense subjects in studies for their contributions to science while bringing them into the process as curators of their own data.

With respect to this, where do you think Blockchain is in its evolution?

Blockchains have not been sufficiently tapped for their great potential as ledgers in fields other than finance, although many have noted this, and some are trying. We think one obvious first application is in science, where the provenance of data is critical, and in genomics and health, where that provenance and curation by patients could help bring about better health care as well.

Are there other value propositions that blockchain can deliver?

While blockchains are noted for their transparency, they are also a means by which additional privacy and security can be achieved while allowing for transfers of data over networks. Because they create immutable ledgers, and because the “bookkeeping” is kept by way of “hashes” of transactions (alphanumeric records), they can help anonymize users and verify the validity of transactions, as well as provide auditable records of transactions. Given increasing concerns about the privacy of our data, being able to help anonymize users and still retain traceable records can provide greater assurance and confidence in the transacting of business over networks.

What sort of ethical and social issues do we need to remain mindful of amid this body of blockchain innovation?

We should be careful not to be overly enthralled by the technology without also addressing the need for education. Blockchain is a tool that, when properly applied, can give patients and subjects power and maybe even wealth, while lubricating the flow of scientific data. But at the heart of the application we are creating, for instance, is the value of freedom and property. Similar applications could ignore those values, fail to bring the customer in, fail to educate them about their rights and responsibilities, and simply focus on the money. That would probably be the path of least resistance right now for any of our competitors.

How do we better manage the conundrum between efforts to foster data sharing and the need for consumer privacy?

One thing we are learning is that without some way to track the use of our data, we are at the mercy of the companies that gather that data. The transparency that blockchains afford us is the ability to track data use over time (in our case, genomic metadata which will reside on our blockchain) and yet keep that data encrypted. With private keys, we can be in control and aware of the use of our data, and yet make it available in a market, where we can be the curators, custodians, and salespersons instead of some intermediary. The system is trust-less. The ethic of privacy is actually cooked right into the technology, so we need not rely on some company’s goodwill to reveal their failures.

And what can the Equifax data breach of a few years ago teach us about security?

Equifax revealed their vulnerability, how many countless others have not? If we have a permanent, immutable record of transactions of our data, keep the metadata about that on a blockchain, and only trade our data with those who make the appropriate transactions with us, we as everyday citizens become more deeply involved with our own data, and have a better vantage point to judge our preferences about its uses, as well as guard against its misuse. When the technology makes this possible, an ecology and economy of sharing will grow without some of the risks we currently face through the use of intermediaries.

Can you share a bit about the software company you and Dr. Vanessa Gonzalez created to address the issue of genomic data and privacy?

EncrypGen was our response to the urgency of making genomic data more available for scientists and putting individuals in charge of their data and its use. We sought to develop the world’s first genomic blockchain for science and raised seed money to begin to build a real product. That seed money funded a couple of developers and a prototype, and in November 2018 a full version 1.0 of our product launched. We also sold half of the native tokens for the blockchain to customers helping us to ensure that we are liquid for the next year or two while we raise capital, build our team, and sell nodes of the Gene-Chain.

And just to back up a bit, why did you decided to launch this company?

Our decision to start a company was based on the fact that the problem of gene patenting went without fixing for decades because policy was often slow to catch up. We chose to make an artifact over arguments, with the idea that a good, working product capable of actually achieving the policy aims we thought could help protect privacy while enhancing science were brought to fruition quickly. The market will judge our success, not legislative bodies or courts.

You started Gene-Chain in 2017, the world’s first genomic data marketplace. How has that progressed and what are you learning over the course of its evolution?

We have met all our milestones and released the full version of our marketplace on November 6, 2018. Since then, we have been actively seeking and gaining users, as well as seeing traffic in the way of data sales on the platform. We now have 1000 users, the bulk of whom have uploaded their data (from direct to consumer genetic tests), filled out profiles, and many of whom are already earning $DNA for their data. We project, based on the transactions so far, that by the time we have between 30000 and 50000 users we will be profitable.

That sounds like some pretty high aspirations?

We know we can get that many users, and we know how much it will cost, and we expect to be able to do this in the next two years. Aiding us in meeting this goal is the invitation we recently received to take part in a project that will acquire us 100,000 users, basically for free, just by being part of this project over 30 months. We have learned, given the obvious pain points of 1) lack of affordable data for science, and 2) consumers not having been cut into the profit flow created by selling their data, that if we build it (as we have) they will come, (as they are).

And are there any new developments on your front with Microsoft for Startups, the $500 million initiative to help startup create, develop, and market enterprise- level software.

We became a Microsoft Startup recently, which affords us a range of benefits starting with Azure cloud credits. Our only real capital expense is cloud services, so those credits are helpful at this stage. Moreover, it has helped us to focus our product on a new, viable customer-type since MS startups includes even more benefits for a B2B product capable of listing on the MS Store. That product is coming this summer and will be yet another mechanism by which we will be able to hit our goals of user adoption.

Any updates from your partnerships with Murrieta Genomics and Viazoi.

Both our partnership with Viazoi and with Murrieta Genomics are additional means of allowing users to find us as each is cross-branding and encouraging their users to also use the Gene-Chain. We continue to seek to work with any organization that shares the values we have of user-enablement, ownership, and profit, and who wish to encourage their clientele to control and monetize their genetic data using the Gene-Chain. Because we remain the only company doing this with a token that can be converted to other currencies, we are receiving more such requests for partnerships all the time.

How is your DNA token progressing? What sort of lessons can you share around the tokenization of your project?

The biggest lesson we can tie to tokenization and blockchain is that people like money, and tokens are valued as much as money with little hesitation. We have watched and waited for competitors to mimic our model, and have seen many eschew it over a variety of fears. Perhaps due to regulatory uncertainty, or due to concerns about user adoption, other “blockchain genomics” companies have essentially tossed aside the blockchain part in an effort to create new models for genomic data sharing. We think this is a mistake, and have even offered to let their users use our token to get paid for their data.

So it’s working for you?

Yes. It is working for us, and it works for our customers who are making money they can actually spend from data they already own. That offer remains open. The DNA token is valued, and can represent well the value of the data. In the end, we believe that blockchains without tokens or browseable public explorers aren’t abiding by the best features of blockchains.

What sorts of problems does a “genomic blockchain” solve for this evolving landscape?

It gives us a record, a ledger to track transactions, including data requests and payments. It enables us to reveal data to be searched for and request genomic data. It gives us a secure way to transmit data, through data streaming on a blockchain. It solves problems related to the reluctance to share data due to privacy concerns. It helps create a marketplace, maintain security, privacy and transparency as well as serve as a means of payment via a native token. It can even bring subjects into their own health and data curation, utilizing the consent procedures and tracking use of their own data over time for better self-knowledge.

Has there been any progress on enterprise licensing in this space, particularly in higher education?

We do not sell licenses. We have a free market, so no one needs to buy a license from us to use the market. We do know of a couple research groups actively using or intending to use the Gene-Chain for their studies, and our interactions with them have actually helped us to refine the user experience.

What 2–3 emerging trends do you see emerging in this Blockchain + Genomic space in the next 12–18 months?

Health record blockchains, which are in various stages of development and fraught with a number of HIPAA issues, will begin integrating with our genomic blockchain. This is because the data is so easily de-identified, meaning that its use will tend to be less difficult to deal with, legally speaking. Additionally, genomic blockchains for animals, plants, the microbiome, and blockchains for metabolomics and proteomics will start to be developed. The standard currency for genomic data transactions as well as transactions for other types of health data will be our DNA token. The network effect will make the first successful genomic blockchain essentially the Westlaw of genomic data.

Your long-term vision and hope in terms of blockchain applications in the Genomics/Bioscience industry.

We hope that our Gene-Chain innovation will become basically the TCP/IP of genomic science. Most people won’t realize its role as the central connecting thread for scientists and individuals, storing and sharing genomic data for health, science, and commerce, but it will be the vital marketplace to which researchers, companies, and individuals go to transmit and monetize their data. Individuals will use it for free, as we have built it, to store and use their data for their own health, while choosing to expose metadata so that they could have their data used for science, and even get paid for it. It will be a quiet, but complete revolution in health and science.

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Michael Scott
14 May, 2019
Blockchain Innovation
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Nebula Genomics: Blockchain-Enabled Genomic Data Sharing

Framing itself as “A protocol for the genomics age,” Nebula Genomics proposes to use blockchain technology to make genomic data more easily accessible to both individuals and big industries alike. Recognizing the need for privacy in highly sensitive DNA data, Nebula Genomics offers a way to standardize, centralize, and acquire genomic data while simultaneously protecting user privacy.

Nebula Genomics: what’s their goal?

According to the Nebula Genomics’ whitepaper, genomic sequencing was first attempted in 2001 and cost a whopping $3 billion. Now, whole genome sequencing allows researchers an exciting way to sequence large amounts of DNA from patients. With advances in technology, Nebula estimates that within a few years, this price will drop to below $100. They’re looking to capitalize on better technology and help individuals and industries meet without a middleman to hone genomic data.

Part of their goal is to aggregate a huge amount of genomic data on the Nebula network. By doing this, they hope to solve the issue of fragmentation of genomic data by having it in one place. In addition, they hope to standardize the data to promote ease of use.

Who would use Nebula Genomics?

Individuals

Though it may seem abstract, whole genome sequencing offers an incredibly powerful asset to individuals. By allowing people to sequence their DNA-data, people can get a glimpse into what exercise they need for their body type, what diet is optimal for them, what medicines are appropriate for them to take, and what diseases might be lurking on the horizon. As an example, the Nebula Genomics Whitepaper mentions that mutations in specific genes can show a high predilection for certain types of cancer. Checking for these variants with genomic sequencing can offer people the chance to take preventive measures.

And those planning to start a family can also make use of whole genome sequencing. Often, whole genome sequencing can show if two people have a higher risk of their children being born with genetic disorders. Nebula Genomics hopes to empower individuals to understand their data.

Industry

Once in the Nebula network, individuals have the option of selling their data to industries. For example, Companies can buy this data to help develop personalized medicine – drugs that are specifically tailored to work with genetic variants. This data analysis platform opens up powerful possibilities for research into genomic sequencing, which will allow hospitals and research facilities to stay at the cutting edge of health.

How it works: simplicity, security, and token economics

Nebula Genomics Eliminates the Middleman

The basic set-up of Nebula Genomics will allow data owners (i.e. individuals) to acquire and store their own genomic sequencing straight from Nebula Genomics instead of relying on a personal genomics company. From there, data owners can choose to join the Nebula Genomics network and connect directly with data buyers. This creates a simple, cyclical system that will decrease costs by eliminating need for anyone outside the Nebula system.

Token Economics: Nebula Currency

In fact, the Nebula network plans to even keep currency with the Nebula network by using Nebula tokens as currency. How this works: users will pay for Genomic sequencing at Nebula facilities with Nebula tokens. Data-buyers will also use tokens to purchase this data. Data buyers can get these tokens from Nebula Genomics for “flat money.” This should set up a cyclical system in which Nebula tokens are used to both buy and sell data.

Security: Encryption, Blockstack, and Blockchain Transactions.

Nebula Genomics is quick to emphasize data privacy. Data-owners are given ultimate agency on whether or not to sell their data to buyers. If they decide to share their data, it’s encrypted and analyzed through Intel Software Guide Extensions. They retain their anonymity through “cryptographic identifiers” which won’t be matched to their identity. In addition, the “buyers” have to remain transparent so that data owners know exactly who is going to be using their data. And all of the transactions are stored on the secure Nebula blockchain so there’s an immutable record.

Nebula Genomics’ network is built on Blockstack technology and Nebula blockchain. Blockstack offers decentralized apps so that users have the freedom to choose their own storage providers, like Dropbox, to store their data. All records will be stored on the immutable Nebula blockchain. Storing records through Nebula’s Ethereum-based blockchain will give users to security and peace of mind they deserve, as their transactions will be time stamped, secure, and immutable.

Nebula Genomics is at the forefront of an exciting wave of blockchain-supported healthcare. With an emphasis on protecting users’ privacy and ushering in a new age of genomic possibilities, this is an exciting start-up to watch. For more information on this and other healthcare solutions, contact us at Blockchain Healthcare Review.

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Brennan B.
24 September, 2018
Blockchain Innovation, Entrepreneurship
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DNAnexus – Collaborative Bioinformatics Research

Value-added DNA sequence data

DNAnexus is a leading bioinformatics company offering a cloud-based, flexible, genomic data management system. Although not currently blockchain-based, their platform is part of a growing landscape of healthcare IT innovation that is making sweeping changes to the healthcare industry. Healthcare organizations and genomic researchers are using the DNAnexus platform to store and deliver value-added DNA sequence data to clients; to discover new drugs through genomic R&D; and to share and collaborate with other genomic researchers online. Most recently, the bioinformatics company announced the launch of a collaborative platform (MOSAIC) for genomic researchers across the globe to work together toward new breakthroughs in bioinformatics that could in turn lead to new healthcare solutions.

The platform

The primary DNAnexus product is a cloud-based genomic data management system with several key component that help researchers in the following areas:

Uploading and securely storing their genomic data
Scaling their DNA sequencing processes
Building, porting, reproducing and testing pipelines
Maintaining clinical data compliance (e.g. HIPAA compliance)
Sharing and collaborating with other bioinformatics researchers and organizations
Controlling genomic data access
Integrating with partners

Use cases

Companies and researchers are currently applying the flexible DNAnexus platform to a wide variety of use cases.

Value-added DNA sequencing data delivery

The DNAnexus platforms integrates directly with an organization’s sequencing instruments, and can handle multiple simultaneous upload streams. Once uploaded to the cloud, DNAnexus can then deliver the DNA sequencing data to the organization’s clients as part of a larger, value-added bioinformatics solution that expands the original organization’s data offering.

R&D toward drug discovery

By using the DNAnexus platform, researchers can more easily identify the sources of disease in the human genome and address them.

Collaborative bioinformatics research

DNAnexus has designed its platform around APIs, making it flexible enough to handle the needs and requirements of a wide variety of genome centers. The cloud-based platform can also scale as projects grow, and organizations can add hundreds of collaborators.

MOSAIC: Collaborative microbiome research space

On June 27th, 2017, in conjunction with their partner Janssen Research & Development (including the Jansen Human Microbiome Institute), DNAnexus announced the release of the MOSAIC research collaboration platform. MOSAIC helps genomic researchers to more easily organize, manage and share their data.

Organizing and analyzing bioinformatics data

To help researchers organize and analyze their genomic data, MOSAIC provides collaborative workspaces; “studies and runs” to help with sequencing and metadata; and an advanced search feature that returns data from workspaces, studies, runs, executions and apps.

Support for data interaction

To help with data interaction, the MOSAIC platform runs microbiome apps that have already been made publicly available by the greater bioinformatics community and require no installation. MOSAIC also enables researchers to create their own private apps. Once researchers have selected their apps, they can chain them together into a complete workflow. Finally, MOSAIC provides an execution-tracking feature that enables researchers to monitor the performance of their apps and processes at a granular level.

Sharing and collaboration

To enhance sharing and collaboration, the MOSAIC platform includes groups, discussions and bioinformatics data sharing. However, to access workspaces, assets and apps, users must accept licensing terms.

Company overview

Launched in 2010, DNAnexus has grown into the worldwide leader in genomics data management. The Mountain View, California-based company offers an advanced, cloud-based bioinformatics platform that enables organizations to more easily handle their genomic data by making the bioinformation management process more secure, accessible, manageable, scalable and collaborative. The global company has operations in North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The DNAnexus team is composed primarily of experts from two fields: cloud computing and computational biology.

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Brennan B.
11 September, 2017
Blockchain Innovation
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Encrypgen: The Gene-Chain Project

Security Issues Genomic Data

Over the last few years, the scientific world saw an exponential growth in the type and volume of available genomic data. Genomic data refer to information with respect to an organism’s complete set of genes, or what we call genomic DNA. Technology kept up with the capture, processing, storage, and analysis of this critical information but solutions to the security and privacy of genomic databases lag far behind.

Encrypgen’s Gene-Chain revolutionizes the genomic industry

By their very nature, genome sequencing contains the most sensitive data about individuals. DNA contains information on ethnic background, the propensity to develop certain medical conditions, even life expectancy and personality traits — all of which a person may want to keep confidential and out of the hands of cyber criminals.

Gene-Chain stores genomic data from individual donors and researchers, which can then be used for metadata searched . This storage platform makes it easier to browse through the material and securely share scientific data. Universities and other research centers — and even corporations — buy the right to store data on Gene-Chain. Once licensed, these scientific research centers and corporations can request to see stored data other than their own. The Gene-Chain processes these data requests by ensuring the requests comply with privacy and consent laws which, in turn, makes scientific collaboration and ethics procedures easier. Gene-Chain donors can see a complete historical record of all “withdrawals” of the data they upload to the platform. In addition, donors can grant specific scientists and research projects access to their data by giving them special keys that provide secure access for a specific time period, after which they expire.

What is so special about Gene-Chain?

Based on blockchain technology, Encrypgen’s Gene-Chain provides a trackable and unhackable method that enables transactions involving genomic information over secure networks. People who deposit, use, or mine genomic data receive Gene-Chain coins, a valuable and exchangeable cryptocurrency. In practical terms, this means that donors can make money from those who mine their data.

Encrypgen is in the midst of its first sale of 80 million Gene-Chain coins which it expects to conclude sometime in July 2017. At of this date, the company sold 55% of the Gene-Chain offering. The company will distribute wallets at the end of the current sale. In August, 2017, the DNA tokens will list on crypto-exchanges.

Who is Encrypgen?

Co-founder David Koepsell, JD/PHD, brings his background in law, ethics, and software, to his position as Encrypgen CEO. He leads Encrypgen’s mission to develop systems that will improve the usefulness and privacy of genetic databases and will protect database donors.

The Co-founder of Encrypgen is Vanessa Gonzalez Covarrubis, PHD. She is the genomic science advisor for the team and brings more than a decade of genetic science experience to her role. She also writes extensively on genetic science for various publications. As genomic science advisor, Ms. Covarrubis researches pharmacogenomics which is the science behind the emerging field of personal medical genomics.

Partners and Members

Encrypgen counts Curlew Research as an organizational partner which supports Encrypgen (and other technology partners) with life science and health innovative projects.

Encrypgen is an organizational member of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. The company also actively seeks to create partnerships with other entities who share its interest in the security, privacy, and collaboration of genomic data for scientific and health purposes.

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Brennan B.
17 July, 2017
Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Innovation, Cryptocurrency, Entrepreneurship, Genomics
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