A Codon Frequency Obfuscation Heuristic for Raw Genomic Data Privacy

Abstract: Genomic data provides clinical researchers with vast opportunities to study various patient ailments. Yet the same data contains revealing information, some of which a patient might want to remain concealed. The question then arises: how can an entity transact in full DNA data while concealing certain sensitive pieces of information in the genome sequence, and maintain DNA data utility? As a response to this question, we propose a codon frequency obfuscation heuristic, in which a redistribution of codon frequency values with highly expressed genes is done in the same amino acid group, generating an obfuscated DNA sequence. Our preliminary results show that it might be possible to publish an obfuscated DNA sequence with a desired level of similarity (utility) to the original DNA sequence.