BIG DATA for DISCOVERY SCIENCE
Discovery Science (aka "discovery-based science"): a scientific methodology which
emphasizes analysis of large volumes of experimental data with the goal of finding new
patterns or correlations, leading to hypothesis formation and new scientific results.
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The Big Data for Discovery Science Center (BDDS) - comprised of leading experts in biomedical
imaging, genetics, proteomics, and computer science - is taking an "-ome to home" approach
toward streamlining big data management, aggregation, manipulation, integration, and the
modeling of biological systems across spatial and temporal scales.
Neuroimaging represents the
leading edge of the onslaught of
big data. The maturation of in
vivo neuroimaging over the past
25 years has led to incredible
quantities of digital information
about the form and function of
the human brain.
A phenotype is the biological
expression of genes such as brown
eyes, or in genetic disorders like
Huntington's disease. By comparing
phenomes over large populations,
researchers hope to decipher which
genes are responsible for which
traits.
The human proteome now
consists of more than
18,000 mapped proteins and
can potentially be used to
understand the flow of biological
information from genes to
cellular functions.
Researchers have sequenced
nearly 225,000 genomes
worldwide, and estimates
suggest that we will have
sequenced roughly five million
complete human genomes by
2020.
