Innovative Bioinformatics: Revolutionizing Healthcare & Justice

Confronting Chronic Diseases with Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics rose to prominence in the ‘90s during the emergence of ‘Big Data’. Though bioinformatics has roots in the ‘60s, its first notable advancements were attributed to software and hardware innovations and the recognized value of data across several industries. Bioinformatics has enjoyed significant growth due to software-based innovations that incorporated predictive analytics within data-based testing.

Predictive analytics remain a cutting-edge resource that can process large data sets and forecast future outcomes. Scientists studying DNA to strategize how to proactively treat chronic diseases are able to utilize predictive analytics to identify patient patterns and predict future outcomes, such as which patients are most at risk for chronic diseases based on gene structure. The software-based resource of predictive analytics plays an undeniably crucial role in reducing the crippling costs associated with the treatment of chronic diseases. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion reported the U.S. healthcare industry allocates 90 percent of its $4.1 trillion in expenses to treating chronic diseases.

Bioinformatics remain vital to successfully identifying genes associated with specific diseases. The enhancement of software resources enables accurate performance of predictive analytics and for scientists and healthcare officials, they are provided unprecedented opportunities to gain proactive insight into patient health and optimize DNA sequencing tests to produce more accurate results. Additionally, these opportunities enable proactive treatment plans due to faster identification of genes that contribute to diseases. With AI-driven solutions powering predictive analysis and optimizing the capabilities of bioinformatics, we see this technology as an invaluable resource to healthcare professionals and researchers seeking to develop new strategies to proactively treat patients suffering from chronic diseases and reduce the significant expenses of the U.S. healthcare system.

Boosting Law Enforcement with Bioinformatics

Law enforcement was forever transformed when DNA testing and forensic science were introduced to investigative procedures. Law enforcement officials lauded the testing for being able to more accurately identify suspects through fingerprint matching databases and the expansion of DNA databases. Software developers continued collaborating with law enforcement to augment department databases with predictive analysis to study fingerprint samples and DNA evidence to support investigations. This has resulted in the development of new leads and even solving some challenging police cold cases. In contrast, civil liberties advocacy groups, such as The Innocence Project have leveraged bioinformatics to exonerate individuals from wrongful convictions.

Individual states have drafted and lobbied for their own, respective DNA collection regulations, elevating debates surrounding the constitutionality of law enforcement’s use of DNA and bioinformatics. However the courts choose to rule, all parties have concurred that bioinformatics augmented by today’s software development experts remains a powerful and innovative resource.

Market Value Prompts Revenue Opportunities

Bioinformatics enjoyed a resurgence during the global pandemic, as scientists utilized its features and predictive analytics to study the impacts of COVID and make more informed, data-driven decisions for its mitigation. Bioinformatics has proven to be the successful culmination of data science and technology, and as reported by a recent study by MarketsandMarkets, the versatility of bioinformatics has led to its 2022 U.S. market share of $10.1 billion. With law enforcement and criminal justice agencies' continued reliance on DNA to aid in investigations, we see bioinformatics as a stable and lucrative revenue opportunity for software providers seeking to capitalize on this growing market, forecasted to exceed $18 billion by 2027.

Bioinformatics continues to be instrumental within healthcare and data science sectors because the study of chronic disease mitigation relies on accurate, data-driven results that can only come from the successful augmentation of software-driven resources required to capture, process, and monitor DNA. With skilled software developers continuing to optimize the performance of bioinformatics resources, we see this invaluable resource as a key driver within advancement strategies in healthcare and criminal justice agencies.