Aliyun Partners with BGI to Launch Cloud-based Genome Analytics Engine

Aliyun Partners with BGI to Launch Cloud-based Genome Analytics Engine

Hangzhou, February 24, 2016 －Aliyun, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, today announced that BGI Genomics, the world’s largest genomics organization, has launched a genome analytics engine — BGI Online (beta version) — using Aliyun cloud computing. As the first large-scale bioinformatics analysis platform on Aliyun, BGI Online is a key milestone towards sequencing an individual human genome February 24, 2016.

The booming life sciences industry is generating massive volumes of research data, creating new challenges to researchers seeking to obtain data in a timely manner, analyze and process it rapidly, and store it securely. BGI Online (beta), the first large-scale bioinformatics analysis platform to run fully on the Aliyun cloud, was developed to address these issues.

The beta service integrates high-performance computing, secure networking and large-capacity storage, allowing data analysis, visualization and reporting on the cloud, which assists researchers to obtain actionable insights quickly and easily. Users of BGI Online can access their own data on this platform, design personalized, accurate data analyses, and share both data and results easily with other authorized users.

Simon Hu, President of Aliyun said, “2016 will see a revolution in life sciences and the exponential growth of new businesses based on data. Genomics will soon intersect with precision medicine. Aliyun will continue to promote innovation to address new challenges in data processing, analysis and storage brought about by the explosive growth in life sciences.”

Running as an Aliyun hybrid cloud deployment, BGI Online leverages the premium scalability and performance of Aliyun Elastic Computing services to handle a wide range of scenarios with heavy computing, storage and data transmission requirements, from basic research and crop breeding to clinical applications. Aliyun also satisfies BGI’s stringent requirements for data processing, security and data privacy.

BGI Online (beta) is a major deliverable of the October 2015 commitment signed by Aliyun, Intel Corporation and BGI at the 10th International Conference on Genomics (ICG-10) in Shenzhen to develop the first cloud solutions for precision medicine in the Asia Pacific.

Ye Yin, CEO of BGI Genomics said, “Our goal is to complete sequencing, analysis and interpret a person’s entire genome in 24 hours through our BGISEQ-500 sequencer and BGI Online platform. Though this is an enormous challenge, the value to life is well worth the effort. This work will give China sustainable growth opportunities in life sciences over the next few decades. Wish more talents in cloud computing and bioinformatics area could join us to make it happen earlier.”

BGI Online enables research institutes, medical facilities as well as small and medium sized genomics enterprises to eliminate the need to build and support expensive data centers. By outsourcing the complexities of network security, data processing and hardware maintenance to BGI and Aliyun, doctors and researchers can focus more on solving scientific mysteries.