Human genomic data carry unique information about an individual and offer unprecedented opportunities for healthcare. The clinical interpretations derived from large genomic datasets can greatly improve healthcare and pave the way for personalized medicine. Sharing genomic datasets, however, pose major challenges, as genomic data is different from traditional medical data, indirectly revealing information about descendants and relatives of the data owner and carrying valid information even after the owner passes away. Therefore, stringent data ownership and control measures are required when dealing with genomic data. In order to provide secure and accountable infrastructure, blockchain technologies offer a promising alternative to traditional distributed systems. Indeed, the research on blockchain-based infrastructures tailored to genomics is on the rise. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive literature review that summarizes the current state-of-the-art methods in the applications of blockchain in genomics. In this paper, we systematically look at the existing work both commercial and academic, and discuss the major opportunities and challenges. Our study is driven by five research questions that we aim to answer in our review. We also present our projections of future research directions which we hope the researchers interested in the area can benefit from.
翻译:人类基因组数据包含关于个人的独特信息,并提供了前所未有的医疗保健机会。大型基因组数据集的临床解释可以大大改善医疗保健,为个人医学铺平道路。但是,共享基因组数据集带来了重大挑战,因为基因组数据不同于传统医学数据,间接揭示数据所有人后裔和亲属的信息,甚至在数据所有人去世后也携带有效信息。因此,在处理基因组数据时,需要严格的数据所有权和控制措施。为了提供安全和负责任的基础设施,连锁技术为传统分布系统提供了有希望的替代方法。事实上,针对基因组学的基于链式基础设施的研究正在上升。然而,缺乏全面的文献审查,总结目前基因组系链应用中的最新方法。在这份文件中,我们系统地审视现有的商业和学术工作,并讨论主要机遇和挑战。我们的研究受到五个研究问题的驱动,我们希望在我们的审查中解答这些问题。我们还提出了我们对未来研究方向的预测,我们希望该地区感兴趣的研究人员能够从中获益。