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NIH launches SNP health association resource (SHARe) project
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is making a vast collection of genetic and clinical data freely available to researchers. Called the SNP Health Association Resource (SHARe), it will allow researchers to access extensive phenotype and genotype information from several of the large cohort studies that are funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The intention is to use the SHARes to identify genes that are involved in disorders such as cardiovascular and lung disease, as well as conditions such as osteoporosis and diabetes.
The first SHARe to be launched will enable researchers access to data from the The Framingham Heart Study (FHS). Designed to identify common risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the FHS started in 1948 with the recruitment of 5,209 men and women from Framingham, Massachusetts, and now includes comprehensive data from three generations of the same families, much of which has been collected repeatedly in the original and offspring cohorts. Over the years, careful monitoring of the FHS population has helped to identify major risk factors, such as hypertension and high blood cholesterol as well as lifestyle factors. More latterly, it has expanded to study genetic determinants of cardiovascular disease with several large-scale genotyping projects in the past decade.
The FHS SHARe includes genotype information in over 9,300 subjects from three generations of more than 900 families. This includes data on 550,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that have been determined recently, as well as SNP and microsatellite genotyping conducted previously. Linked to this is a phenotypic database of information from all three generations plus an array of biomarkers, disease imaging measures, disease outcomes and ancillary studies.
To protect confidentiality, the database is stripped of information that might identify individual participants, all of whom have consented to genetic research and to allowing their data to be shared. Furthermore, investigators must meet certain requirements before gaining access to the full dataset.
NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel commented: "As one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken, the Framingham Heart Study will play a vital role in laying the foundation for this vast dataset to help researchers link genes and disease" (see press release).