GenCoder

Project "GenCoder" data sheet

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 Partnership

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 Project objective

Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) devices have enormously impacted on genomic analysis and life sciences, with a drastic price reduction for sequencing a human genome (1,000 USD) and faster data processing, which resulted in the exponential accumulation of genomic data. However, the vast amount of genomic data produced and stored in clinics, research institutes, bio-banks and biotech companies is bringing along cumbersome informatics challenges: the huge amount of data to be stored imply massive costs for data storage (850 €/TB per year, with average size of a whole human genome being in the range of 0.4-3 TB), also due to the use of ineffective data formats not specifically designed for genomic data; the lack of interoperability and standardized software and protocols prevents genome analysis centres to implement reliable, scalable, and widely-accepted applications for cross-correlating and comparing genomic data. GenCoder by GenomSys is a software tool specifically designed for efficient genomic information representation, compression and transport, which provides the following main performances: (1) High compression rates in lossless mode (up to 90% with respect to the BAM standard); (2) Selective access to specific blocks of data and metadata, so to significantly speed-up data analysis; (3) Interoperability amongst available data formats, enabled by the compliance with the ISO standard MPEG-G (to be released in 2019), which is being developed by a joint working group having GenomSys as main contributor. The Phase 1 project will have as main outcomes the optimization and validation of the GenCoder performances through tests involving huge datasets in selected data sequencing and storage facilities, and the business plan of the product, which consolidates the business model and pricing, the marketing strategy, and the financial plan.