Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong is working with Oxford University to help build the aforementioned ‘NASA of biomedicine’. The structure is intended to support the UK’s project of genomic sequencing, beneficial to future medicine undergraduates interested in such projects.
Genomic sequencing has been made possible by the creation of new infrastructure of data transfer; genomic sequencing was previously restricted because the centre did not have the computational power to complete data transfers, but the development of new ‘supercomputers’ has made the UK’s goal of sequencing 100,000 genomes by 2017 more possible.
Computer science applicants will recognise the incredibly important aspect of computation to scientific breakthroughs, and the relevance of computation to genomics (http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/computational_genomics.htm) and particularly how investigating genes through computations analyses helps us understand the function of mRNAs as just one example (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050707061835.htm).
PPE and economics and management applicants will notice that the UK’s, and more specifically Oxford’s, dedication to genomic sequencing through constructing this building speaks to the UK’s focus on genomic sequencing. The presence of the centre, however, perhaps belies the fact that medicine applicants have dropped in the past year (http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/scotland/drop-in-medical-course-applications-1.643749), suggesting a disconnect between the higher level of medical discussion and training in the UK versus university-level attraction to the subject.
Our Oxbridge-graduate consultants are available between 9.00 am – 5.00 pm from Monday to Friday, with additional evening availability when requested.
Oxbridge Applications, 58 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ