With an upsurge in companies studying genomic data comes the possible prevention and cures of life-threatening diseases, such as cancer. Often times, however, this data is not actually owned and controlled by the person contributing the trend’s most valuable asset.

One company is working to analyze customer data while keeping it in the hands of the donor. OMIX Ventures Pvt Ltd (AKA Project Shivom) — which sold out its initial coin offering in May within 15 seconds — is sequencing DNA and storing it on a patient-friendly platform through the blockchain.

“[This] actually gives the power back to the donors,” said Azam Shaghaghi (pictured), director of public relations at Project Shivom. “You can monetize, manage and control your own data.”

Shaghaghi spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, Ontario. They discussed Shivom’s plans to improve genomic analysis while keeping it in the hands of its users.

Disrupt with open-source, decentralization

Shivom’s main mission is an industry-wide disruption, and decentralized, open-source technology allows it to do just that. Much of the healthcare industry remains untapped and highly regulated; Shivom hopes that with the help of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology, it can disrupt the industry, according to Shaghaghi.

Shivom has created a marketplace for key players, namely donors, users, governments, hospitals, insurance companies, and research labs. “After you sequence your DNA, you can give it to us, and we manage it, secure it, and store it on the blockchain,” Shaghaghi explained.

All the user has to do is sign up on the Shivom platform and then sign up to sequence their DNA, much like other genealogy websites. Then a kit is sent out to the user. Once Shivom receives the kit back, it does all the work through smart contracts.

Other mail-order kits are very centralized and do not clearly know where the information goes or how it is stored, Shaghaghi pointed out. It becomes the company’s property and, after the agreement is signed, they can do whatever they want with it. Shivom, on the other hand, is creating an economy of precision in the hands of its own users.

Using the Shivom platform, if a user donates their DNA to a lab, for example, they will get a certain amount of OMX, which is Shivom’s ERC20 token.

“We are promoting precision medicine, advanced healthcare, and how we can tackle rare diseases,” Shaghaghi concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Blockchain Futurist Conference.

Photo: SiliconANGLE