Biobanks ASIA

In 2003, BioBank Japan (BBJ) started developing one of the world’s largest disease biobanks, creating a foundation for research aimed at achieving medical care tailored to the individual traits of each patient. From a total of 260,000 patients representing 440,000 cases of 51 primarily multifactorial (common) diseases, BBJ has collected DNA, serum, medical records (clinical information), etc. with their consent. No less than 5,800 items of screened information are available for research, including the patients’ survival information, with 95% of the patients tracked over an average of 10 years. In addition to large-scale genomic analyses, omics analyses including whole genome sequencing and metabolome/proteome analyses have been performed on the DNA, serum and other biological samples collected, producing significant research findings. The genomic information acquired through the analyses continues to be used as data. The biological samples and data are widely distributed and used by researchers.

The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS) is a large-scale prospective observational study investigating the role of social, biological and environmental influences on pregnancy and child health and development in an urban setting in southern China.

Long-standing community-based cohort in Metro Cebu with repeated anthropometric, dietary, and health measures from pregnancy/birth through adulthood; genetic and omics data used in developmental and metabolic trait studies.

The China Kadoorie Biobank is one of the world’s largest prospective cohort studies. A long-term collaboration between the UK and China, it aims to generate reliable evidence about the lifestyle, environmental and genetic determinants of a wide range of common diseases that can inform disease prevention, risk prediction and treatment worldwide.

the largest and the most representative Chinese genome variation database to date. The CMDB database contains 9.04 million single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and the allele frequency information from low-coverage (0.06×–0.1×) WGS data of 141 431 unrelated healthy Chinese individuals.

a reference panel of 114 783 Han Chinese individuals (the Han100K), with whole-genome deep-sequenced or high-density genome-wide single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) genotyped or imputed.

IndiGenomes is a curated resource of genetic variants from 1000+ whole genomes from across India, supporting South Asian reference genomics and downstream association and functional studies.

Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study: prospective population-based cohorts (Ansan–Ansung, etc.) with biosamples and follow-up; genome-wide data widely used in Korean and trans-ethnic GWAS.

Reference panel of ~1,000 Korean whole genomes with linked clinical information for population genetics, imputation, and precision-medicine applications.

Korea4K is the second phase data release of the Korean Genome Project (KGP).

The NBK is the national control center for the collection, management, and utilization of human bioresources in Korea. And NBK manages KBN, it contributes to the development of policies related to human bioresources, standardization of human bioresource management, and advancement of domestic biobanks through developing and providing support for human bioresource technologies. For guaranteeing the fairness in bioresource distribution and development of an efficient distribution system, the NBK also serves as the human bioresource supply hub that supports national healthcare and medical R&D.

Six National Centers in Japan conduct specialized medical research under the coordination of the National Center Biobank Network (NCBN) and develop therapeutics to improve and protect national health. They actively collaborate to establish a shared biobank and are developing a structure to facilitate industry-academia-government cooperation regarding bioresources through broad joint research. NCBN strives to promote the success of the National Centers and to create bright future for health and human life.

NyuWa, or NüWa, is the mother goddess who was the creator of the human population in Chinese mythology. Here we presented the NyuWa genome resource based on high depth (median 26X) WGS of 2,999 Chinese individuals from 23 out of 34 administrative divisions in China. NyuWa Genome Resource present in this website mainly contains two parts as NyuWa Chinese Population Variant Database and NyuWa reference panel server.

Qatar Biobank is a national long-term health research initiative that recruits consenting adults in Qatar, collects biological samples and health data, and supports population and genomic research on diseases relevant to the region (often analyzed together with the Qatar Genome Program).

National sequencing initiative profiling thousands of Qatari genomes (linked with Qatar Biobank) to study migration history and improve imputation and analysis of Arab haplotypes.

SG10K_Health is the headline project of the Singapore National Precision Medicine programme (NPM Phase I). Comprising 10,000 whole-genome sequences from healthy Chinese, Indian, and Malay consented volunteers. SG10K_Health involved a research collaboration across multiple institutions in Singapore, enabling the country to develop the necessary infrastructure and deep capabilities to process, store, and analyse genetic data at the population scale in a safe, secure, and rapid manner. SG10K_Health provides near complete assessment of common genetic variants in Singapore’s three major ethnic groups, which can be used by clinicians to better manage Asian patients with genetic disease and as a control data set to compare against disease studies. Work is ongoing to link the SG10K_Health genomic data to research traits (e.g., height, weight, blood pressure) and clinical records.

The Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is an ongoing prospective study of over 150,000 individuals aged 30-70. A comprehensive list of phenotypes was collected for each consented participant at recruitment and follow-up visits through structured interviews and physical measurements. Biomarkers and genetic data were also generated for all participants from blood and urine samples.

The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI) is a genomic research program designed toadvance precision healthcare. With over 500,000 Taiwanese residents already enrolled, TPMI maintains the mostcomprehensive dataset of genotypes and electronic medicalrecords for Han Chinese populations.

Prospective Chinese cohort (Taizhou) combining lifestyle factors with multi-omics and brain imaging to study aging and preclinical dementia.

The ChinaMAP is based on three large-scale cohorts: The China Noncommunicable Disease Surveillance 2010, a nationally representative study with 150,000 participants; the Risk Evaluation of cAncers in Chinese diabeTic Individuals: a lONgitudinal (REACTION) study with 250,000 participants15 and the Community-based Cardiovascular Risk During Urbanization in Shanghai with 50,000 participants.

The Hisayama Study is a population-based prospective cohort study that has been conducted in the town of Hisayama, Japan since 1961.

Multi-institution Japanese consortium formed during the COVID-19 pandemic; contributes multi-omics and GWAS-related data surfaced through resources such as the Japan Omics Browser.

Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD） study is a collaborative prospective cohort study of approximately 10,000 elderly people from 8 newly-established community-based dementia cohort studies in Japan, in which the data is prospectively collected by using the pre-specified standardized protocol. The purpose of this study is to evaluate quantitatively environmental and genomic risk factors for dementia in Japanese and to establish effective preventive strategies for dementia, in order to realize healthy aging society.

The Malaysian Cohort (TMC) is a prospective study of non-communicable diseases in a multi-ethnic Malaysian population, recruiting adults across rural and urban settings with biosamples and phenotypes for gene–environment and biomarker research.

The Nagahama Primary Prevention Cohort Project is a joint project based on an agreement between Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, with the cooperation of approximately 10,000 Nagahama residents. In addition, the project conducts follow-up surveys on morbidity and mortality, special tests and surveys on sleep, brain imaging, memory, motor function, skin condition, socioeconomic status, etc., during health checkups and periodic surveys conducted every five years after that. Furthermore, we have completed a multi-omics analysis focusing on genome analysis of approximately 9,000 people (including whole genome sequencing of roughly 2,500 people), comprehensive metabolite analysis of 3-time points, and comprehensive protein analysis of 2,000 people (as of August 2021), and based on these rich and diverse data, we have been searching for health risk Based on these abundant and varied data, we aim to search for health risk factors and elucidate their interactions.

The Stroke Omics Atlas (STROMICS) is committed to using multi-omics and clinical big data to achieve accurate diagnosis and treatment for stroke patients, reduce treatment costs, and contribute to the health of the people.
Using artificial intelligence and cutting-edge high-throughput omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, etc.), potential drug targets for stroke can be found on a large scale and with high efficiency, providing strong technical support for clinical transformation.
Relying on the China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases and Center of excellence for Omics Research (CORe), STROMICS has realized the interdisciplinary integration of clinical medicine, bioinformatics, and multi-omics, creating a new paradigm of drug research and development.

Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization was founded to establish an advanced medical system to foster the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. The organization has been developing a biobank that combines medical and genome information during the process of rebuilding the community medical system and supporting health and welfare in the Tohoku area. The information from the brand-new biobank will create a new medical system, and, based on the findings of its analysis, the organization aims to attract more medical practitioners from all over the country to the area, promote industry-academic partnerships, create employment in related fields, and restore the medical system in Tohoku.

The Westlake BioBank for Chinese (WBBC) cohort is a population-based prospective study with its major purpose to better understand the effect of genetic and environmental factors on growth and development from youngster to elderly. The dataset comprises a wide range of demographics and anthropometric measures, serological tests, physical activity, sleep quality, age at menarche and bone mineral density. WBBC is designed as a prospective cohort study and will recruit at least 100,000 Chinese samples. The pilot project of WBBC has recruited a total of 14,726 participants (4,751 males and 9,975 females) and the baseline survey was carried out from 2017 to 2019.