Genomics is currently at the stage the Internet was at in 1994, writes Mark Kaganovich, the CEO and cofounder of SolveBio, at Tech Crunch.
Genomics, he says, hold promise for understanding and treating cancer, personalized medicine, and more, but is stuck in the days of AOL CDs being sent through the mail.
However, Kaganovich argues that genomics is 'one app away' from becoming more widely adopted and moving into the mainstream. And that driver app, he says, is likely to be one that helps in the interpretation of genomic data.
Currently, he says, genomic data is mostly scattered across academic databases that weren't intended to be used for diagnostic purposes. More data needs to be collected to enable diagnostic uses and improve accuracy.
"Applications that facilitate the collection and dissemination of this kind of encyclopedia of genomic information that can be referenced by other applications will drive the industry to new heights," Kaganovich says.