Google's Big New Project: Autism Research
Company aids in sequencing thousands of genomes
By Matt Cantor,
Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2014 6:42 AM CST
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To
learn more about the genetics behind autism, researchers are planning to
sequence the genomes of thousands of people—and they've enlisted a
partner who knows a thing or two about sifting through scads of data.
Using its Genomics
tool, Google will host on its servers and index the huge volumes of
data involved; a human genome can fill up 100 gigabytes of space, and
researchers will investigate those of 10,000 individuals on the autism
spectrum as well as their relatives, Wired
reports. "We realized that some of our biggest biology problems were
really big data problems," says a top scientist with advocacy group
Autism Speaks.
"We
believe that the clues to understanding autism lie in that genome," he
continues. "We’d like to leverage the same kind of technology and
approach to searching the Internet every day to search into the genome
for these missing answers." The technology will allow researchers to
track down particular genome sections that interest them, looking
closely at areas where subjects have common variations, Wired
notes. The partnership between Google and Autism Speaks will offer "an
open resource for scientists worldwide to access and share autism
research," the group says on its site. (A chemical found in broccoli may help cut down on symptoms in people with autism.)
 |
Google is partnering
with autism advocates to help investigate the condition.
(AP Photo/Jens
Meyer, File)
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