Description
Data Mining your own DNA*** Dear all,
Please note that this week we have the pleasure of hosting
an invited talk organized by one of the local student
special interest groups, Lambda ry, http://lambda.fi
HIIT seminar, Friday Sep 18, 10:15 a.m. (coffee from 10), Exactum D122
Michael Cariaso
Founder of SNPedia
Author of Promethease
Research Scientist at KeyGene NV, Netherlands
Data Mining your own DNA
Abstract:
Eight years ago the Human Genome Project completed at a cost $3
billion USD. Today almost daily headlines announce "Scientists
discover gene for disease X" and the technology has become accessible
to the general public.
For $400 you can have your spit analyzed to check your DNA status at a
half million locations. By cross referencing this against the
scientific literature you can predict many details about your
ancestry, appearance, drug response, and diseases. Most dramatically,
at birth we can predict which 3% of us will develop Alzheimer's. Other
variations can be used to predict eye color, intelligence, creativity,
lactose intolerance, and many many more features. But why wait for
birth, when the same techniques can be used to highlight what is
possible or certain based on which mate you choose.
This talk will introduce SNPedia.com - a wiki database of DNA
variations, and Promethease - a free python client which reads an
individual's DNA file. While the emphasis will be viewing the genetic
profiles of real people, some attention will be paid to the underlying
technical elements. These include using a wiki as a semi-structured
semantic database, using SPARQL vs webcrawling as alternative
interfaces to Mediawiki, use of Amazon.com's FPS/EC2 web services, and
a small domain specific language for representing genetic
combinations.
Together these provide a glimpse of how medicine, and our
understanding of ourselves, is about to change.
Bio:
Michael Cariaso is a founder of SNPedia and the developer of
Promethease. He is studying the genetics of large plant genomes for
KeyGene in the Netherlands. He's been a Bioinformatician across a
diverse range of topics for LLNL.gov, Gene Logic, Celera, SAIC and
BioTeam.
Personal homepage: www.cariaso.com
Topic homepage: www.SNPedia.com
Welcome!
| Period | 18 Sep 2009 |
|---|---|
| Visiting from | SNPedia (Finland) |
| Visitor degree | Founder |
| Degree of Recognition | International |