Biological data networks and methods therefor

A method for facilitating processing of a request in a system including a plurality of biological data units stored at a plurality of network-accessible locations, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a first node of the biological data network, the request from a client device;
• performing a first processing operation with respect to at least one of the biological data units based upon the request;
• determining, based upon results of the first processing operation, that the processing of the request is incomplete;
• selecting, based upon the results of the first processing operation, a second node of the biological data network to perform a second processing operation;
• and
• sending, from the first node, the results of the first processing operation to the second node over a network.

A method, comprising;

• receiving, through a network interface of a network node, a segment of a genome sequence of an organism;
• comparing the segment of the genome sequence to a reference sequence;
• identifying sequence variants between the genome sequence and the reference sequence;
• and
• receiving, from another network node, information relating to the sequence variants.

A method for facilitating processing a disease-related query, the method comprising:

• receiving, through a network interface of a first network node, a query relating to a specified disease and a genomic sequence associated with the query;
• identifying, relative to a control sequence, any variant alleles within the genomic sequence;
• sending, through the network interface, information identifying the variant alleles to a second network node;
• and
• receiving, through the network interface, information relating to the set of variant alleles.

A method for facilitating processing a disease-related query within a biological data network, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a first network node, a query relating to a specified disease and a genomic sequence associated with the query;
• identifying, relative to a control sequence, any variant alleles within the genomic sequence;
• sending information identifying the variant alleles over a network to a second network node;
• receiving, at the first network node, pharmacological response data associated with those of the variant alleles included within genes associated with the specified disease;
• and
• sending a response to the query based upon the pharmacological response data.

A method for facilitating processing a disease-related query, the method comprising:

• receiving, through a network interface of a network node, information identifying variant alleles within a genomic sequence associated with a query relating to a specified disease;
• providing the information to a processing module;
• performing, using the processing module, a statistical correlation analysis in order to identify those of the variant alleles included within genes associated with the specified disease;
• providing results of the statistical correlation to the network interface;
• and
• sending the results of the statistical correlation to another network node for further processing.

A method for facilitating the processing of biological data within a network including a plurality of nodes, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a first node of the plurality of nodes, a request to process the biological data wherein the first node is configured for DNA-specific layer processing;
• performing a first processing operation with respect to at least a DNA-specific layer of the biological data based upon the request;
• and
• sending, to a second node of the plurality of nodes, results of the first processing operation wherein the second node is configured for processing of an RNA-specific layer of the results.

A network node, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive a request from a client device;
• a processing module in communication with the network interface, the processing module performing a first processing operation with respect to at least one of the biological data units based upon the request and determining, based upon results of the first processing operation, that the processing of the request is complete;
• and
• a transmit controller configured to control sending, through the network interface, a response to the client device.

A network node, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive a request from a client device;
• a processing module in communication with the network interface, the processing module being configured with instructions to:
• perform a first processing operation with respect to at least one of the biological data units based upon the request,
• determine, based upon results of the first processing operation, that the processing of the request is incomplete,
• select, based upon the results of the first processing operation, a second node of the biological data network to perform a second processing operation;
• and
• a transmit controller configured to control sending results of the first processing operation to another network node.

A network node, comprising;

• a network interface configured to receive a segment of a genome sequence of an organism;
• and
• a processing module communicatively coupled to the network interface, the processing module being configured to compare the segment of the genome sequence to a reference sequence and identify sequence variants between the genome sequence and the reference sequence;
• wherein the network interface is further configured to receive, from another network node, information relating to the sequence variants.

A network node, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive a query relating to a specified disease and a genomic sequence associated with the query;
• a processing module communicatively coupled to the network interface, the processing module being configured identify, relative to a control sequence, any variant alleles within the genomic sequence;
• and
• a transmit controller configured to control sending, through the network interface, information identifying the variant alleles to a second network node;
• wherein the network interface is further configured to receive information relating to the set of variant alleles.

A network node, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive a query relating to a specified disease and a genomic sequence associated with the query;
• a processing module communicatively coupled to the network interface, the processing module being configured to identify, relative to a control sequence, any variant alleles within the genomic sequence;
• and
• a transmit controller configured to control sending information identifying the variant alleles to a second network node;
• wherein the network interface is further configured to receive pharmacological response data associated with those of the variant alleles included within genes associated with the specified disease and wherein the transmit controller is further configured to send a response to the query based upon the pharmacological response data.

A network node, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive information identifying variant alleles within a genomic sequence associated with a query relating to a specified disease;
• a processing module configured to perform a statistical correlation analysis in order to identify those of the variant alleles included within genes associated with the specified disease;
• and
• a transmit controller configured to send results of the statistical correlation to another network node for further processing.