NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – SciLifeLab researchers today presented the first map of genetic variation for the Swedish genome.
SciLifeLab — a molecular biosciences center made up of researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, and Uppsala University — sequenced the whole genomes of 1,000 Swedish individuals who were selected to be representative of the whole country.
They plan to use this resource to facilitate research of and diagnostic tests for genetic diseases. They will also make the database available to the healthcare industry to investigate whether genetic variants are the cause of specific patients' conditions.
"This map will have great impact on many international research projects which investigate the connection between genetic variants and diseases,” said project leader and Uppsala researcher Ulf Gyllensten in a statement.
The researchers have produced around 100,000 gigabytes of sequencing data, and have made efforts to ensure that the data is securely protected.
"The fantastic thing about this resource is that it is available for all researchers. This is possible since no information about single individuals are given out, only how frequently occurring a certain gene variant is within the group," added Uppsala researcher and project bioinformatician Adam Ameur.