It is the company that was founded by gene guru Craig Venter that was going to beat the government at deciphering the genome and become the Bloomberg of biology by selling genetic data.

FORBES: Why You Shouldn't Trust Newfangled Gene Tests

For a sudden inpouring of data is not unique to biology.

ECONOMIST: Drowning in data

However, he warned against focussing disproportionately on the eight areas of excellence outlined by the Chancellor in November ("big data" computing, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, agricultural science, energy storage, space, robotics and advanced materials including nanotechnology).

BBC: Autumn Statement: Science gets ?600m injection

The centre will integrate expertise in cell biology, mass spectrometry, proteomics, "big-data" analytics, drug discovery and computer science to exploit the potential of the human genome project for healthcare and the development of safer drugs.

BBC: Dundee University awarded ?700,000 for DNA data project

This transformation from a hypothesis-driven to a data-driven mode has revolutionized other disciplines, such as biology, and may now allow us to systematically improve the quality of education.

CNN: Top college courses, for free?

If incorporated into a living cell, the stored DNA data might be changed or erased by the normal process of cell biology.

WSJ: Harvard Researchers Turn Book Into DNA Code

Risco endeavored to inject molecular biology into computer sciences, having been inspired by a magazine article about a data encryption technique called steganography, the science of communicating in a manner that hides the existence of the communication.

CNN: Romanian teenager wins 'junior Nobel Prize' competition