Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
On the Horizon
The future of collaboration in bioinformatics is intimately tied to advances in the information
technology industry and to establishing clear intellectual property rights agreements between
industry, government, and academia. Technologically, several patterns are emerging. There appears
to be a simultaneous move toward pervasive computing—the any-time, any-place access to data and
computing power. Most of these capabilities will come about through advances in networking, such as
new wireless network designs, improved network security measures, an emphasis on storage area
networks and other distributed storage solutions, and high-speed (10 Gigabit) Ethernet.
The current Wi-Fi or 802.11b wireless standard, which operates at 11 Mbps, will soon be replaced by
systems capable of both Wi-Fi and higher-speed 802.11a wireless communications, which provides
54 Mbps connectivity. Similarly, the current 10 Mbps Ethernet standard, which hasn't changed
appreciably since 1979, is being upgraded industry-wide to 10 Gbps, starting with the backbone
connections. Both of these developments are making network-based storage—a component of
pervasive computing—a practical alternative to local storage.
With the threat of non-specific cyberterrorism and the increased motivation for the theft of
bioinformatics research data, new security technologies and improved internal processes are
inevitable. The bioinformatics laboratory of the next decade will likely resemble the work
environment depicted in the science-fiction thriller
GATTACA
, in which a battery of biometric tests,
including DNA analysis, are routinely used to identify every employee and track their movements—all
in the name of national security.
