Summary

The European Genome-phenome Archive was awarded funding to store and share the first 50 000 genomes from UK Biobank participants
UK Biobank aims to release the dataset in 2020
Access to this dataset will enable researchers to gain new insights into human health and disease

May 31, Cambridge – UK Biobank has received £4.8 million from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to accommodate a treasure trove of important genetic data emerging from the whole genome sequencing of 50 000 UK Biobank participants. Part of this funding goes to EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) to enable the storage and distribution of the dataset, scheduled to take place in 2020. The data will be made available to certified researchers through the European Genome-phenome Archive, which already shares the array-based data from UK Biobank.

UK Biobank is a research resource following the health of its 500 000 participants who joined the study between 2006-2010. Information provided by participants is made available to approved health scientists in a way that does not identify the individuals concerned. It was established through the funds and vision of the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust.

"UK Biobank is an amazing resource for the research community. We are pleased to build on our experience distributing the genotype data to date to ensure future UK Biobank genetic data are accessible for transformative research," explains Helen Parkinson, Head of Molecular Archives at EMBL-EBI.

"The European Genome-phenome Archive is delighted to continue its collaboration with UK Biobank to enable access to the exomes and genomes that will contribute to a raft of new discoveries in human disease," said Thomas Keane, Team Leader at EMBL-EBI.