A Layered Blockchain Framework for Healthcare and Genomics

Scientific research in the area of human genomics is no longer restricted to scientists. With the introduction of companies such as 23andme and Ancestry, the interested people of the public have been getting involved in genetic studies. However, the nature of the data being collected and its link to confidential, personal information will need to be properly secured and complete to prevent the same issues faced by electronic medical records in healthcare: fragmentation and risk of disclosure. By integrating blockchains with genomics and healthcare, patients and research participants will be able to participate in their own healthcare and research, increasing patient and user centricity. In this paper, a layered architecture of how blockchains can be implemented in genomics and healthcare is proposed. The proposed architecture shows how communication between users, researchers, and medical professionals can be improved while encouraging genetic research while improving security and privacy.