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Last week saw the launch of the UK arm of the Personal Genome Project (PGP). This is the second major sequencing initiative launched this year in the UK (the first being Genomics England). Interestingly, both projects seek to sequence 100,000 genomes, and both are fuelled by a belief that genomics is set to become a routine part of healthcare. Yet the projects are as notable for their differences as their similarities.
Genomics England is bankrolled by the government, with £100 million of NHS funds earmarked for the project. The source of funding for PGP is rather more disparate, with the PHG Foundation reporting that it is to be funded for the next year 'by the Chinese Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and commercial sequencing and interpretation service providers Illumina, Life Technologies, and Personalis'.
Whether it can secure long-term funding is not clear, with Science Insider reporting that the more established US and Canadian arms are struggling for funding. Another difference is in their approach to confidentiality: PGP operates on the principle that research participants share their data publicly.
Controversy surrounding...
Genomics England is bankrolled by the government, with £100 million of NHS funds earmarked for the project. The source of funding for PGP is rather more disparate, with the PHG Foundation reporting that it is to be funded for the next year 'by the Chinese Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and commercial sequencing and interpretation service providers Illumina, Life Technologies, and Personalis'.
Whether it can secure long-term funding is not clear, with Science Insider reporting that the more established US and Canadian arms are struggling for funding. Another difference is in their approach to confidentiality: PGP operates on the principle that research participants share their data publicly.
Controversy surrounding...