Cloud-based analysis of genomic data completed
Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Human Genome Sequencing Center (TX, USA) have collaborated with DNAnexus (CA, USA) and Amazon Web Services (WA, USA) to conduct a cloud-based analysis of genomic data. The team has sequenced the DNA of individuals partaking in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium (CHARGE) project, which aims to study human genetics and elucidate the contributions to heart disease and aging.
DNA of more than 14,000 individuals from the CHARGE project, comprising 3751 whole genomes and 10,771 whole exomes, has now been sequenced. The Mercury pipeline developed by the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center was used to analyze the data and identify mutations from genomic data, which will allow their significance in causing serious disease to be determined.
The cloud-based analysis enabled all 300 researchers of the CHARGE project to access the network of data from their respective institutions around the world. “It is very important for us to create a centralized space where researchers from all over the world can come and collaborate with the data,” said Jeffery Reid, Assistant Professor in the Human Genome Sequencing Center at BCM, who led the BCM work on the project. “This project creates expansive access to this data over a protected network that will advance research.”
Eric Boerwinkle, Associate Director of the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center and Professor and Director of the Human Genetics Center at the University of Texas Health Science Centre (TX, USA), who leads the CHARGE project, stated, “The collaboration between the CHARGE consortium and the Human Genome Sequencing Center is leading to discovery of those genes contributing to risk of the most important diseases plaguing the USA population across all age groups.” He continued, “Ultimately, these discoveries forge a path toward novel therapeutics and diagnostics. The use of cloud computing and collaboration with DNAnexus is allowing us to achieve our goals faster and in a more cost-effective manner.”
