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Comment by LinuxBender | Hacker News Reader

Somewhat off topic: Has anyone yet made a device that is entirely self contained and can do a basic analysis of DNA without sending or fetching data from anywhere? In other words, 100% air-gapped and my DNA and data stay on the portable device. If not, approx. how many years until such a device might exist?

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Unfortunately, there still is no such thing as "basic" analysis of DNA. :)Ewan Birney has a great quote about this:

Sequencing, analysing and interpreting genomes is ‘routine’ in the same way the US Navy ‘routinely’ lands planes on aircraft carriers. It might happen regularly by well trained crew with the right equipment but it is not an easy thing to do. https://twitter.com/ewanbirney/status/1040144488948281344

That said, an Oxford Nanopore sequencer + a laptop is probably the closest thing to what you want.

This is actually promising. Obviously my mental comparison is not appropriate, but I recall diagnostic equipment for vehicles that cost $500k+ and took up a half of a bay in the shop. Now I can do the same diagnostics with a hand-held device that is $95. That was a 20 year gap. If the same evolution occurs with genetic equipment, it will meet my needs. In 15 to 20 years, I want to acquire a copy of Dr. Sinclairs work on the yamanaka factors and reversing cell age. I will need equipment to see DNA, epigenetic methylation and more.

Not possible. The library of SNPs is too large and growing by the day. Source, I made a gene analyzer: https://github.com/esteininger/Genetic-Report-Tool

Seems like something that will happen eventually in the next decade or three. I can imagine a business model where instead of collecting a vial of saliva, a company rents you a fully automated desktop DNA sequencer. The data can live on your computer and be compared to new SNP's as they are found. It's a long way off, and I understand full sequencing is significantly more difficult than SNP identification, but the tech seems possible, even probably. The business model seems less probable. People just don't care that much about their data.

Also, it doesn't matter due to network effects. In the GEDmatch case, the serial killer had never had his DNA sequenced - just his relatives. DNA privacy is already gone even if you opt-out of everything. You might as well get some personal benefit out of it. Or maybe this is a perverse opposite of vaccination. If enough people get vaccinated, you get herd immunity. If enough people stop sending data to DNA companies, you get herd privacy. Once enough people in one generation send in for DNA tests, even if everyone stopped, wouldn't future generations still be relatively targetable? I mean I'd imagine you could find me by comparing to my grandparents DNA.

We are working on encrypting DNA molecules in a test-tube so that genetic information is protected before it ever touches anything electronic. Molecular encryption will be similar to an air-gap.

geneinfosec.com

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