iRODS metadata management for a cancer genome analysis workflow

Abstract

BackgroundThe massive amounts of data from next generation sequencing (NGS) methods pose various challenges with respect to data security, storage and metadata management. While there is a broad range of data analysis pipelines, these challenges remain largely unaddressed to date.ResultsWe describe the integration of the open-source metadata management system iRODS (Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System) with a cancer genome analysis pipeline in a high performance computing environment. The system allows for customized metadata attributes as well as fine-grained protection rules and is augmented by a user-friendly front-end for metadata input. This results in a robust, efficient end-to-end workflow under consideration of data security, central storage and unified metadata information.ConclusionsIntegrating iRODS with an NGS data analysis pipeline is a suitable method for addressing the challenges of data security, storage and metadata management in NGS environments.

Shifting Gears in Precision Oncology—Challenges and Opportunities of Integrative Data Analysis

“…Institutions would have to invest significant resources for computer servers and facilities, such as sequencers, scanners, and cloud platforms, for effective integration and exchange of data. Moreover, as the metadata will encompass confidential information, appropriate security measurements with which the data is encrypted and stored will be of importance [ 26 , 119 , 121 ].…”