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One of the great challenges – and opportunities – over the coming decade is the perfusion of molecular measurement, and accompanied data analysis, into general medicine. This will be nothing new for clinical genetics and other niche disciplines, but as medicine begins to mine the rich data streams from genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics research, we will start running into some rather tricky integration problems. This is interesting both scientifically and socially, as a huge wave of technology pushes us to create clinicial utility out of a confluence of molecular data, high-resolution imaging and data from continuous-sensing devices.
Opinion-makers have been grappling with these issues publicly for a while, and there are programmes in place in many different countries to enable, exploit and empower this change. Futuristic language like ‘The End of Medicine’ and ‘The Revolution in the Clinic” is bandied about, and governments, charities and companies are all keen to get involved.
I have two different perspectives on this issue. First, as one of the world’s major sources of reference molecular information, EMBL-EBI is a trusted adviser and public data and knowledge provider. Our medical strategy is in place, supported by our advisory boards and ready for implementation. As always, we are prepared to help different sectors and communities deal with ‘big data’ storage, standardisation, integration and knowledge management.
Related on the SLP
On a more personal level, my research collaborations with clinician scientists have opened my eyes to the challenges and opportunities of practical medicine – some of which I mentioned in my blog post on human as model organism.
Read full, original post: Genomics and Big Data in Medicine
