Google the genes

Google the genes

Recently Sergey Brin and Larry Page turned their gaze towards biology and genetics - very soon the search technology expansion will begin in these areas. Projects are developed using knowledge of basic science, medicine and high technology. Information that will improve the standard of living, prevent and cure many diseases, should be available to millions of people, including scientists. Such goals have set themselves a charity foundation Google and the project Google.org. Work in this direction is already underway, and in close cooperation with other organizations and individuals. The program involves not only talented Google programmers, but also its unique search and computer technologies.

“Very few IT specialists realize the problems that biology faces in the field of information storage and transmission. And this is fraught with grave consequences for the whole world, says Brin. “But we can store huge amounts of data at minimal cost.”

Sergey and Larry want to simplify for users the process of finding the right information, and therefore the company directs the lion's share of its resources to expand and improve the quality of the search. This implies the development of qualitatively new methods, after the introduction of which today's Google is likely to seem primitive. The search for the future will give more accurate and complete answers to requests and will be different from the current model, just as Google is now different from the very first primitive search engines. “The most advanced search engine,” Paige says, “will understand what you mean and give out exactly what you need.”

The main work in the Googleplex is now conducted in the field of artificial intelligence and the translation of texts from one language to another. Bryn and Paige hope that this work will bear fruit: it will allow people to join the new knowledge without any linguistic, geographical and technical barriers.

To this end, the founders have attracted a large group of professionals to the Googleplex - several dozen former general directors, hundreds of doctors of science, champions of the United States and the world to solve puzzles, participants in the Olympic Games, a group of university professors and one laurels director.

Brin and Page believe that in the near future, users will have access to huge databases of constantly updated information, both public and private, that are currently not available on the Internet. They will contain films, television and radio programs, pictures and texts, telephone conversations and other types of voice communication, educational materials and data received from satellites. The guys are also actively engaged in the search for environmentally friendly energy sources, with the help of which they could accelerate the economic growth of the company. “These guys have a thoughtful and beautiful goal,” notes Stanford rector John Hennessy. “They work for the long term.”

One of the most interesting Google projects involves conducting biological and genetic research that could lead to important breakthroughs in medicine and other sciences. With this Google project, it is very possible that the epoch of personalized medicine will be approaching, when doctors, having a clear idea of the human genetic code, will develop individual treatment for their patients, rather than prescribe them standard dosages and the same standard treatment courses. Thanks to this project, new knowledge and new medicines will appear. People with certain genetic features will receive information about which drugs or food they should eat and which ones should be discarded.

“Just think about the fact that Google can be used in the realm of genomics,” says Hennessy. “Huge databases, a sea of information — this science is in great need of search technology.” If we index all this information in Google, then discoveries in the field of genetics are not far off. “I would like to have a search engine in which the human genome and the structure of DNA are already included. This is just one of the options when the so-called “intellectual search” can bring real results. The demand for it will grow steadily. ”

According to Dr. Alan E. Gutmakher, Deputy Director of the National Institute for Human Genome Research, Google’s use of genetics technology is definitely worth it because the search engine is unmatched when it comes to studying genes and genetic abnormalities. Its resources can be used to analyze huge data arrays with billions of variables - arrays, which scientists working in laboratories cannot process. The old notion that a scientist is engaged only in laboratory work is being replaced by a new image: a scientist at a computer, dealing with databases on the Internet, engaged in modeling in cyberspace. “Until recently, the main task was to collect data,” says Rutmacher. - Now there is a need for their systematization and evaluation. Google plays a key role in this.The search engine significantly accelerates scientific activity, changes the principles of work. Very soon we will get the tools that will allow us to better understand the nature of human diseases and develop new ways to prevent and treat them. ”

In February 2005, Sergey Brin and authoritative biologist Craig Venter discussed the prospects for using Google technology in genetics at dinner. Known for deciphering the human genome, Dr. Venter now collected samples of oceanic fauna from around the world and sent them for DNA analysis. Despite the millions of dollars and the opportunity to work with the most powerful computers that the US Department of Energy provided him, the scientist who was trying to solve the molecular riddles of life lacked resources. He believed that mathematicians, scientists, engineers and powerful Google processors could be invaluable to science, and therefore persistently convinced Brin to connect Google to his project.

Ryan Philan, CEO of DNA Direct, an Internet company specializing in genetic tests and genetic counseling, sat at the same table with them. DNA Direct attracts customers mainly through advertising on Google. Her ads appear on the search results pages for the phrases “blood clotting,” “breast cancer,” “cystic fibrosis,” and some others. Bryn, Venter and Filan were among those invited to a gourmet dinner at Cibo, a trendy Italian restaurant in Monterey (California). Bryn came to dinner accompanied by Ann Wojcicki. Her sister is a top manager at Google, and Ann herself prefers to invest in the healthcare industry. Next to them sat Jeff Bezos - the CEO of Amazon and one of the first investors of Google.

“He asked Sergey how to use Google to provide access to genetic information,” recalls Phil. “Craig was interested only in the scientific side of the question, he asked every now and then:“ What if all this information is stored on Google? ”Sergey’s intellect attracts like-minded people to him. He was trying to get from Craig exactly how, in his opinion, you can use Google. ”

Google willingly sponsors scientific activities of organizations and individuals. So, for some time, the company collaborated with Stanford University, providing computing power as part of a research project to study the process of protein coagulation. This process is one of the key in biology, but scientists still know very little about it. Some people believe that inappropriate protein coagulation leads to serious diseases - Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and various forms of cancer. To simulate this process, Stanford scientists used the "free" time of computers, which were provided free of charge by individuals and organizations. Google also offered to participate in the Stanford project to its users: when they are away from home or sleep, their computers can serve science.The presence of additional memory resources made it possible to accelerate the modeling and analysis of the protein coagulation process. “Creating a computer model of even the simplest protein is very difficult,” said Brin.

Shortly after that conversation, Brin and Page began working with Venter. The biologist has gained access to technical resources and Google specialists. This, he noted, will speed up the analysis of molecular information and significantly increase the likelihood of new discoveries, both in applied medicine and in fundamental scientific research. “We need the most powerful computers,” said Venter. “Larry and Sergey were very interested in our research, and they willingly provided us with processors, programmers, and scientists so that we could improve the data analysis process. This shows how widely they think. Genetic information is information that will change the world. We are working with Google to create a catalog of genes that would contain the characteristics of all the genes on the planet and would allow us to get a clear idea of their evolution.Genetics have been striving for this for decades. ”

Over time, Venter said, Google will create a genetic information base, analyze it and look for interdependencies for individuals and groups. She already uses 30 thousand genes discovered by Venter and scientists