On December 6, 2018, at the international conference in biomedical research held in Hanoi, Vingroup Big Data Institute has announced the project named “Building Vietnamese genetic variation database” with an investment of 4.5 million USD. The objective of that research is to create a database for early disease warning and treatment, as well as to develop individualized diagnosis and treatment methods.
The project “Building Vietnamese genetic variation database” will be implemented based on the whole genome sequencing of 1,000 individuals. At this scale, it will create the largest genetic variation database ever and provide the basis of data for domestic and foreign studies of Vietnamese genes. The project will start in early 2019 and last for 5 years.
In the first 3 years (phase 1), scientists will collect samples of 1,000 Vietnamese and coordinate with international partners in the US, Germany, Singapore, and Japan, etc for explaining and analysing high-coverage DNA sequencing, thereby, establishing a database of genetic variations for the Vietnamese population.
From this database, the scientists will develop more lists of mutations (panels) for reference genomes, genetic diseases and genomic pharmacology studies (PGx). Genome data after sequencing with large coverage will require hundreds of Terabytes for storage. For research purposes, Vingroup will also invest in modern analysis and big data storage systems to meet the above analysis and storage demand.
Prof. Vu Ha Van, Scientific Director of Vingroup Big Data Institute emphasized: “This is not only a premise for the second phase but also a foundation for other genetic research in Vietnam. Because of the complexity and high funding required to build a genetic database, the project will contribute greatly to the research community on genetic issues in Vietnam.”
In the second phase, the project focuses on genome studies to develop testing methods for a number of genetic diseases and adverse drug reactions.
Currently, the project research team has been cooperating with researchers on genetics and genetic diseases in the US, Germany, Japan, etc. For PGx field, the research team is also collaborating with Southeast Asian experts in the project “1,000 Pharmacogene Resequencing”, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Japan – the three pioneers in PGx applications in clinical. To sequence and analyze data across thousands of genomes, the project also cooperates with domestic and foreign experts as well as applies the latest gene sequencing technology of Illumina.
The project implementation and the contribution of foreign experts will help national scientists on biomedical, genomic, and data science access to the latest international-standard research methods and data analysis techniques.
Building and analyzing the human genome has a great impact on many different fields, including medicine, pharmacy, biotechnology and anthropology. Specifically, genetic research helps to detect, warn, and treat diseases early, as well as to develop individualized diagnostic and treatment methods. Therefore, the project will surely have a great social impact.
As the largest genome project in Southeast Asia up to the present time, the project will imprint Vietnam on a map of big data research and world gene technology, at the same time, turn the vision “A better life for Vietnamese people” into reality.
