The DNA of Blockchain: Feature Interview With David Koepsell
David Koepsell have been examining the future of genomic data for nearly a decade. An academic philosopher, entrepreneur, and retired attorney, Koepsell’s keeps his fingers in the worlds of science, technology, ethics, and public policy
He is also the author of the 2nd Edition book Who Owns You, a widely acclaimed look at the philosophical and legal problems associated with patenting human genes.
Recently, Koepsell and his long-time collaborator and partner, Dr. Vanessa Gonzalez — launched a blockchain-centric startup called Encrypgen, LLC., which provides next generation software for genomic data. In the interview below, Koepsell elaborates on the exciting advancements taking place in the genomic world and how blockchain will likely play a part in it.
Tell us a little about your path from philosophy into the genomics world and how you discovered blockchain?
I was actually a lawyer, finishing my PhD in Philosophy while practicing law. The combination of philosophy and law got me engaged and interested in two main subfields: ontology and ethics. I also became interested in patents and copyrights, and when I met my wife, who is a genomic scientist, started reading about genomics. I found seed money and founded EncrypGen, and hired a developer to get a prototype made.
How do you see the worlds of blockchain and genomics intersecting?
Genomics has tremendous promise for health. The future of medicine, we believe, includes tremendous potential for greater efficiencies through targeted treatments, much of which will depend on knowing more about patients’ genes. Blockchain allows us to do a number of things that will help this become a reality: share and secure data through encryption, track the use of genetic data, and even subsidize or recompense subjects in studies for their contributions to science, while bringing them into the process as curators of their own data.
With respect to this, where do you think Blockchain is in its evolution?
Blockchains have not been sufficiently tapped for their great potential as ledgers in fields other than finance, although many have noted this, and some are trying. We think one obvious first application is in science, where the provenance of data is critical, and in genomics and health, where that provenance and curation by patients could help bring about better health care as well.
What sort of ethical and social issues do we need to remain mindful of amid the body of blockchain innovation being pursued in this space?
We should be careful not to be overly enthralled by the technology without also addressing the need for education. Blockchain is a tool that, when properly applied, can give patients and subjects power and maybe even wealth, while lubricating the flow of scientific data. But at the heart of the application we are creating, for instance, is the values of freedom and property. Similar applications could ignore those values, fail to bring the customer in, fail to educate them about their rights and responsibilities, and simply focus on the money. That would probably be the path of least resistance right now for any competitors.
How do we better manage the conundrum between efforts to foster data sharing and the need for consumer privacy?
One thing we are learning is that without some way to track the use of our data, we are at the mercy of the companies that gather that data to tell us. The transparency that blockchains afford us is the ability to track the use over time of data (in our case, genomic metadata which will reside on our blockchain) and yet keep that data encrypted. With private keys, we can be in control and aware of the use of our data, and yet make it available in a market, where we can be the curators, custodians, and salespersons instead of some intermediary. The system is trust-less. The ethic of privacy are actually cooked right into the technology, so we need not rely on some company’s goodwill to reveal their failures.
And what can the Equifax data breach teach us about security?
Equifax revealed their vulnerability, how many countless others have not? If we have a permanent, immutable record of transactions of our data, keep the metadata about that on a blockchain, and only trade our data with those who make the appropriate transactions with us, we as everyday citizens become more deeply involved with our own data, and have a better vantage point to judge our preferences about its uses, as well as guard against its misuse. When the technology make this possible, an ecology and economy of sharing will grow without some of the risks we currently face through the use of intermediaries.
Can you share a bit about the software company you and Dr. Vanessa Gonzalez created to address the issue of genomic data and privacy?
EncrypGen was our response to the urgency of making genomic data more available for scientists, and putting individuals in charge of their data and its use. We sought to develop the world’s first genomic blockchain for science, and raised seed money to begin to build a real product. That seed money funded a couple developers and a prototype, and now a beta-version. We also sold half of the native tokens for the blockchain to customers helping us to ensure that we are liquid for the next year or two while we raise capital, build our team, and sell nodes of the Gene-Chain. Our decision to start a company was based on the fact that the problem of gene patenting went without fixing for decades, because policy is often slow to catch up. We chose making an artifact over arguments, with the idea that a good, working product capable of actually achieving the policy aims we thought could help protect privacy while enhancing science were brought to fruition quickly. The market will judge its success, not legislative bodies or courts.
What sorts of problems does a “genomic blockchain” solve for this evolving landscape?
It gives us a record, a ledger to track transactions, including data requests and payments. It enables us to reveal data to be search for and request genomic data. It gives us a secure way to transmit data, through data streaming on a blockchain. It solves problems related to reluctance to share data due to privacy concerns. It helps create a marketplace, maintain its security and privacy, as well as transparency and a means of payment via a native token. It can even bring subjects into their own health and data curation, and even the consent procedures and tracking of use of data over time for their better self-knowledge.
What 2–3 emerging trends do you see emerging in this Blockchain + Genomic space in the next 12–18 months?
Health record blockchains, which are in various stages of development and fraught with a number of HIPAA issues, will begin integrating with our genomic blockchain because, given that the data is so easily de-identified, its use will tend to be less difficult to deal with, legally speaking. Additionally, genomic blockchains for animals, plants, the microbiome, and blockchains for metabolomics and proteomics will start to be developed. The standard currency for genomic data transactions as well as transactions for other types of health data will be our DNA token. The network effect will make the first successful genomic blockchain essentially the Westlaw of genomic data.
Your long-term vision and hope in terms of blockchain applications in the Genomics/Bioscience industry.
We hope that our Gene-Chain innovation will become basically the TCP/IP of genomic science. Most people won’t realize its role as the central connecting thread for scientists and individuals, storing and sharing genomic data for health, science, and commerce, but it will be the vital marketplace to which researchers, companies, and individuals go to transmit and monetize their data. Individuals will use it for free, as we have built it, to store and use their data for their own health, while choosing to expose metadata so that they could have their data used for science, and even get paid for it. It will be a quiet, but complete revolution in health and science.
