Cancer patients' genes on display with new BlackBerry tool

BlackBerry has announced it will be releasing new software for its Passport phone that will give doctors access to a cancer patient's genetic data at a level that has never been seen before.

The company is releasing the NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser in partnership with NantHealth, a cloud-based information technology company based in California.

BlackBerry says the browser will allow doctors to see individual genetic alternations among cancer patients, which will help to review and fine tune their potential treatment options.

The browser will also allow physicians to view a cancer patient's chromosome at an individual base-pair level.

"BlackBerry already powers many of the diagnostic machines clinicians rely heavily upon," said NantHealth CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong in a release. "So it makes sense to tie those devices directly to a BlackBerry smartphone."

Demonstrations of the new browser will be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show inLasVegas in January.