The Digital Dependency Of Genomics

Genomics is the study of an organism’s complete DNA set and the interaction of genes with one another and their environment. Unlike genetics, which studies individual genes, genomics is interdisciplinary and focuses on the collective characterisation and quantification of all the genes in an organism. DNA sequencing highlights the genetic information carried by a particular gene, while genomic sequencing provides information on genetic variations that contribute to the development of disease. Genomics data is a great example of the size and complexity of Big Data, and the growth in genomics with its increased use of next-generation sequencing results in an exponential need to leverage Big Data analytics to identify clinically actionable genetic variants.