Blockchain empowered system integration for federated DNA profiles database system

Abstract

Human identification shows a vital role in various areas in the world, such as forensic, government institutions, medical applications, etc. One of the widely used methods to identify an individual is by using Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) DNA markers also known as STR profiles. These STR profiles are extracted from human cells in forensic laboratories and stored as electronic data in the database systems. Since these systems are established by different organizations as standalone systems, they must be assimilated to become a federated DNA database system to overcome heterogeneous nature and to share data and functionalities. When integrating these DNA database systems, the security, privacy and sensitivity of the DNA data should be accounted, along with transparency and trustfulness in the federated DNA database system. In this research, the DNA database systems were integrated to become a federated database system with an Integrator and private Ethereum blockchain as subsystems. The Integrator acted as a middleware between DNA database systems providing a portal to the integrated database systems. The private Ethereum blockchain was integrated to act like a logging system to trace all the transactions executed within the federated DNA database system. Ethereum blockchain technology was applied in the integration to enhance transparency and leverage trustfulness because of its characteristics such as distributed ledger, decentralized technology, cryptographic security and cryptocurrency. Moreover, Data Protection Principles from General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented for security measure.