European Cooperation to Access Sequenced Genomes
- 11/04/2018
- Articles
On 10 April 2018, thirteen EU Member States signed a Declaration of Cooperation (“DoC”) that requires them to work towards building a research cohort of at least one million sequenced genomes that will be accessible by 2022. The network will piece together national and regional databases of genetic and other relevant data and will thus become emblematic for cross-border cooperation in research that focuses on genomics and personalised medecine. The DoC highlights the objective of a distributed, authorised and secure access to data and stresses the need for robust personal data protection mechanisms that safeguard the privacy of individual data donors.
The DoC indicates that the parties will seek to leverage investments already made at national and EU level, especially in sequencing, bio banking and data infrastructure. For its part, the objective of creating a large cohort will establish the scale for research with a wider clinical impact.
The DoC was signed during a Digital Day conference organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General Connect. The Commission showcased not only developments in eHealth, but also in artificial intelligence and blockchain technology applications.
The thirteen EU Member States which signed the DoC included, ironically, the exit-bound United Kingdom, while notable research powers such as France and Germany did not participate.
