Beyond data markets: Opportunities and challenges for distributed ledger technology in genomics

Abstract

During the past decade, distributed ledger technology (DLT) has found its way into application areas outside finance, such as supply chain management, the Internet of Things, or health care. To this end, this novel technology phenomenon has recently also caught the attention of researchers and practitioners in genomics. Although various DLT-based data markets for genome data already exist or are in development, the potential of DLT in this context is far from exhausted, whereas the possible risks related to the application of DLT in genomics are not yet sufficiently known. In this work, we investigate the potential opportunities and challenges for the application of DLT in the field of genomics. Thus, we make an important contribution to the safe and socially acceptable use of DLT in this unique and highly relevant use context.