KmerCrypt: private k-mer search with homomorphic encryption.

ABSTRACT: Outsourcing the storage and analysis of genomic data to third-party servers is often necessary due to the scale of modern datasets, but it introduces significant privacy challenges that must be addressed to ensure secure handling. K-mer-based analyses offer broad applications across genomics research, clinical diagnostics, pathogen surveillance, and metagenomic classification, though implementation requires careful ethical and technical considerations, particularly when processing human genomic data in clinical settings. We present a novel protocol utilizing homomorphic encryption that enables a client to store a fully encrypted version of a genome on an untrusted server and perform private k-mer searches. The protocol ensures the server never gains access to the client's non-encrypted gen

SUBMITTER: Provatas K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12684705 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature