diately if the info is there about your genome . But we need to store this information somewhere and make it available and actionable .” In order to make this process actionable however , requires the ability to share data at a global level while ensuring it isn ’ t exposed to security breaches . How does Dr Schumacher propose this should work ? “ Using blockchain tech we can now store this data in a decentralised way so there ’ s no single , easy access point for cybercriminals to go into a database and download all the data and sell it . In addition to this we are also adding a layer on top of blockchain which means people can be anonymous on the platform . Even if a cybercriminal penetrated our system they wouldn ’ t find anything but meaningless data .”
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PUTTING THE PATIENT IN CONTROL One of the other things Dr Schumacher ’ s team is exploring is the idea of a smart contract that blockchain technology can apply to specify what should happen with a patient ’ s healthcare data . “ Anyone can come to our platform and say , for example , ‘ I ’ m completely into sharing my data with researchers because in my family we have diabetes so let ’ s share it with diabetes researchers .’ We could do this , but at the same they can say ‘ I don ’ t want my data shared with my insurance company but it ’ s fine to be shared with my physician , my family
that today ’ s medicine and pharma companies are not targeted enough in their treatments . “ They use the ‘ blockbuster ’ model where a patient might have to go through 10 or 20 drugs to find a way to treat something . Success is all dependent on your genomes and the various variations of your genomes . Part of our idea is that you can get the right drugs immewww . healthcareglobal . com