Blockchain is a digital technology that allows a secure and decentralized record of transactions that is increasingly used for everything from cryptocurrencies to artwork. But Yale researchers have found a new use for blockchain: they’ve leveraged the technology to give individuals control of their own genomes.
The new technology, dubbed SAMchain, ensures that individual genomic information remains secure and under the control of the individual. Since information cannot be changed once it is stored in blockchains, the technology also protects against occasional corruption of DNA data stored on the cloud, where most genomic information is now stored on far-flung networks of computers.