Government contractors are looking toward personalized medicine as a new front for their businesses, the Washington Post reports.
Genome sequencing generates loads of data, and these contractors think their past cyberthreat or warfare intelligence data-crunching experience can be translated for personalized medicine, especially as the government becomes more interested in the field.
"Many contractors, especially those in information technology, have been eager to pursue opportunities in precision medicine as they look to add lines of business to make up for cuts in other parts of the federal budget as overall spending slows," the Post says.
It notes that defense giant Lockheed Martin has partnered with Illumina to help countries that are integrating genomics into their healthcare systems, and Northrop Grumman is collaborating with the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country on a project to comb through electronic medical records for hints into diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
While healthcare analytics is only a small part of what Northrop Grumman does, Northrop vice president Amy Caro tells the Post that it sees promise there as government clients like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Veterans Affairs are interested in the field.