08/01/2014

Will Big Data Answer Big Questions on Health?

16:29 minutes

Google’s latest big idea is called “Baseline Study”—an effort to catalog the DNA of thousands of healthy people, along with their blood, urine, saliva, breath, and tears. Over time, the project may detect the hallmarks of disease years earlier than we currently can, says project collaborator Sam Gambhir, of Stanford University. But gathering data is only the first step. The key, says Dartmouth College’s Jason Moore, is asking the right questions of that information.

Segment Guests

Jason Moore

Jason Moore is a genetics professor and director of the Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Sciences at Dartmouth College in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Sam Gambhir

Sam Gambhir is a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Meet the Producer

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.