eprintid: 23128
rev_number: 13
eprint_status: archive
userid: 1589
dir: disk0/00/02/31/28
datestamp: 2017-07-06 11:40:32
lastmod: 2024-09-08 11:15:48
status_changed: 2017-07-06 11:40:32
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Molnár-Gábor, Fruzsina
creators_name: Lück, Rupert
creators_name: Yakneen, Sergei
creators_name: Korbel, Jan O.
title: Computing patient data in the cloud: practical and legal considerations for genetics and genomics research in Europe and internationally
subjects: ddc-000
subjects: ddc-610
divisions: i-620100
divisions: i-850800
abstract: Biomedical research is becoming increasingly large-scale and international. Cloud computing enables the comprehensive integration of genomic and clinical data, and the global sharing and collaborative processing of these data within a flexibly scalable infrastructure. Clouds offer novel research opportunities in genomics, as they facilitate cohort studies to be carried out at unprecedented scale, and they enable computer processing with superior pace and throughput, allowing researchers to address questions that could not be addressed by studies using limited cohorts. A well-developed example of such research is the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, which involves the analysis of petabyte-scale genomic datasets from research centers in different locations or countries and different jurisdictions. Aside from the tremendous opportunities, there are also concerns regarding the utilization of clouds; these concerns pertain to perceived limitations in data security and protection, and the need for due consideration of the rights of patient donors and research participants. Furthermore, the increased outsourcing of information technology impedes the ability of researchers to act within the realm of existing local regulations owing to fundamental differences in the understanding of the right to data protection in various legal systems. In this Opinion article, we address the current opportunities and limitations of cloud computing and highlight the responsible use of federated and hybrid clouds that are set up between public and private partners as an adequate solution for genetics and genomics research in Europe, and under certain conditions between Europe and international partners. This approach could represent a sensible middle ground between fragmented individual solutions and a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
date: 2017
publisher: BioMed Central
id_scheme: DOI
ppn_swb: 165938785X
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-231289
language: eng
bibsort: MOLNARGABOCOMPUTINGP2017
full_text_status: public
publication: Genome Medicine
volume: 9
number: 58
place_of_pub: London
pagerange: 1-12
issn: 1756-994X
citation:   Molnár-Gábor, Fruzsina ; Lück, Rupert ; Yakneen, Sergei ; Korbel, Jan O.  (2017) Computing patient data in the cloud: practical and legal considerations for genetics and genomics research in Europe and internationally.  Genome Medicine, 9 (58).  pp. 1-12.  ISSN 1756-994X     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/23128/1/13073_2017_Article_449.pdf