Technology company Lenovo has released the fourth version of its Genomics Optimization and Scalability Tool, or GOAST, designed to make genome analysis faster and more affordable for researchers and health institutions.
First launched in 2020, GOAST is used in industries such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and drug development. The latest version, GOAST 4.0, can process a whole human genome in about 24 minutes. Before, this type of analysis could take between 68 and 150 hours. A single system can now handle about 22,000 genomes each year, almost three times more than earlier versions.
“GOAST v4.0 breaks bioinformatics bottlenecks by combining Lenovo’s HPC expertise with genomics innovation,” said Sumir Bhatia, president of Lenovo ISG Asia Pacific. “With this leap in performance and efficiency, we are enabling real-time discoveries that can save lives and advance global health equity.”
A human genome contains around 3 billion DNA base pairs, which carry the instructions for how the body grows and functions. By speeding up the study of these sequences, GOAST 4.0 helps researchers, doctors, and scientists work on areas such as precision medicine, cancer research, new drug development, and national health programs.
According to Lenovo, the system delivers performance similar to high-end graphics processors but runs on optimized CPUs at lower cost. Institutions that cannot afford large-scale computing systems can access the technology through Lenovo’s TruScale pay-as-you-go model. The tool also uses water cooling to cut energy use by up to 40%.
In the Philippines, GOAST is being set up in a medical research institute. Lenovo said the technology also shows potential in other industries, such as banking and weather analysis, through its high-performance computing capabilities.
GOAST is already being used in several countries. In India, it is applied by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, the University of Delhi, and pharmaceutical companies for cancer research and drug discovery. Other adopters include research institutes in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. In Australia, a children’s hospital is deploying the system to expand its genomics research.
Lenovo said GOAST 4.0 highlights how combining artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) can improve scientific work, helping researchers design better algorithms and more accurate bioinformatics processes. The company positions the tool as part of its broader “Smarter AI for All” initiative, which aims to make advanced technologies available to more people worldwide.