Genomic privacy and security in the era of artificial intelligence and quantum computing

The rapid advancements in sequencing technologies have greatly increased access to genomic data stored in public databases. This has raised significant privacy and security concerns. This review emphasizes the importance of protecting genomic data by analyzing vulnerabilities in current storage and sharing practices. It examines the risks genetic databases face from cyber-attacks and internal breaches, focusing especially on advanced AI-driven threats and quantum computing vulnerabilities. The review explores machine learning methods designed to secure data. It highlights algorithms that prioritize privacy while maintaining data confidentiality, such as differential privacy, federated learning, and synthetic data generation using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Findings demonstrate progress in mitigating common privacy breaches like re-identification and inference attacks. However, persistent vulnerabilities remain, particularly to emerging threats such as model inversion and membership inference attacks. The review advocates an integrated approach combining robust legislative frameworks with advanced technology to address genomic privacy challenges. It calls for intensified research efforts to safeguard genomic information. In particular, there is an urgent need to adopt quantum-resistant cryptographic methods, including lattice-based encryption and blockchain-integrated security frameworks. The paper emphasizes the necessity for genomics researchers to prioritize data privacy and security. This ensures responsible handling of genomic information in research.