Receiving benefits from our genomic data
Receiving benefits from our genomic data
In just two hundred years medicine has come a very long way. Nowadays visiting a doctor for a routine check up is nothing out of the ordinary, but just in the end of nineteenth century a meeting with a doctor in most cases would have cost you your life. Unfortunately we are still not close to eliminating sickness altogether, but thanks to the medical research using scientific method instead of superstition there have been significant advances.
One of the most promising fields of science that could help us live longer, healthier lives is genetics. As we know the genome is a human's complete set of DNA, that contains all the information about our appearance, ancestry, intellectual capabilities, health and fitness, but most importantly it has the potential to reveal disease predispositions.
Many services have popped up, that for a certain amount of money can analyze your and your family's genome to see if you are in increased danger of any diseases or conditions. These kinds of inspections are extremely beneficial not only for the patient but also for medicine in general, as the more genomes are provided for scientists - the more data there is to contribute to research.
That is why that is so important that a project like Shivom exists. Project Shivom is trying to create the largest genome database in the world and revolutionize medicine all around the world while they are at it.
Today a select few companies hold most of the genomic data available to humanity, and they sell it to third parties without sharing the earnings with the data providers. Shivom is going to change that by bringing blockchain technology and genomics together.
Shivom will allow patients and genome data donors to sequence and securely store their genomes in an open web marketplace where pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, research organizations, personalized medicine organizations and other groups, interested in furthering the genomic science for the benefit of humanity, will have an ability to purchase it.
So how does it all work? First thing first you sign up for Shivom online and get a testing kit delivered to your doorstep. You collect your saliva and send it back. After the analysis you will learn about your ancestry, get personalized health insights and an ability to donate your genome to research for free or for profit. The genomic data you provided will always stay yours, because a cryptographic key generator is used to generate a pair of keys used by an asymmetric key algorithm. You encrypt your private key and only the holder of a paired private key can access the data if you give consent through a smart contract. This ensures complete anonymization and security of genomic data.
This kind of system will bring much more information into the world, which will be immensely beneficial for speeding up clinical trials and drug development. Utilizing blockchain, cloud computing, genome sequencing, artificial intelligence and big data analytics Shivom will pave the way for the creation of a global network of genomic counselors and laboratories to bring medical genomics into a new era. The price of testing the full genome of one individual is said to drop to around 100 dollars in the next few years, so before long most people will undergo genetic testing and be able to peruse the advantages of genomics.
The OMX token is the fuel of the Shivom ecosystem, as all trading, buying and incentivizing will be conducted through the use of this currency. These tokens will be used for everything - purchasing the testing kits, paying the donors for their contribution, sponsor in-ecosystem projects, let 3rd party service providers use the platform, etc.
It is long overdue for humanity to be able to use the information stored in their genes in a meaningful way, and project Shivom looks to have made a significant advancement in creating a proper infrastructure for research. If you would like more information, or interested in contributing to the database, you can find the links to their website and social media pages below.
Have you tested your genome before? Did any of your relatives benefit from the check-up? Tell me in the comments section.
Author's bitcointalk: OceanWind33