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World’s largest biomedical research resource now features more than 28 PB of data to help accelerate scientific discovery and improve human health

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Sept. 28, 2023 — DNAnexus, Inc., the leading provider of cloud-based genomic and biomedical data access and companion analysis software, today announced that the DNAnexus-enabled UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP) community has grown to more than 5,000 users around the world. The UKB-RAP was designed to allow researchers to access and analyze the exponentially increasing scale of the UK Biobank (UKB) dataset, which now contains more than 28 petabytes (PB) of biomedical data, making it the world’s largest and most comprehensive resource for researchers looking to advance the understanding of human disease.

Prior to the launch of the UKB-RAP, approved researchers had to download de-identified participant data to conduct their research analyses, requiring significant local storage space, computing power, and technical resources. The UKB-RAP has democratized access to the largest-ever proteomics data release. Later this year, it will also be the access point for the largest-ever whole-genome sequencing data release. The secure and scalable UKB-RAP has helped accelerate both the speed and scale of health-related research, making it more accessible and cost-effective for a broader range of scientists. 

“The second year of the UKB-RAP has seen the platform and our community grow tremendously to more than 5,000 users,” said Dr. Mark Effingham, Deputy CEO of UK Biobank. “We are committed to working with DNAnexus as our partner to help democratize access to the world’s largest biomedical database of its kind, allowing researchers around the globe to advance modern medicine.”  

The UKB-RAP has also enabled greater collaboration between researchers around the world by allowing users to analyze multiple data types together and to work on the same research project within the cloud-based platform. Over the past year, researchers have used the UKB-RAP for an increasingly broad range of research interests, from generating new insights related to the development of obesity, to implementation of new methods for rare variant phasing of large-scale genomic data; and towards answering critical research questions, including testing different methods to stratify cancer patients. 

“We’re excited about this milestone and how it demonstrates our commitment to enabling industry-leading science for our global user community,” said Thomas Laur, CEO at DNAnexus. “The team at UK Biobank continues to set the standard for future global health research projects and we are proud to be a part of this collaborative approach that will enable scientists to better understand, treat, and eventually cure many devastating diseases.”

Over the next year, UKB-RAP will continue to host releases for new types of data, add additional tools, and offer more awareness and community events to continue to drive widespread adoption, streamline workflows, and facilitate collaborations.

About DNAnexus

DNAnexus is a leading provider of secure, scalable, and intuitive biomedical data analysis software and bioinformatics applications for the life sciences and healthcare communities. The company actively manages and supports more than 80 petabytes of complex genomic, multi-omic, and clinical datasets on behalf of a growing network of collaborations with large-scale biobanks, as well as leading pharmaceutical, clinical diagnostic, academic research, and government organizations. Scientists across 48 countries are now using the highly collaborative, cloud-based, end-to-end platform to gain data-driven insights that can advance scientific discovery, accelerate precision medicine, and improve patient care. For more information on DNAnexus, please visit www.dnanexus.comor follow the company @DNAnexus.

About UK Biobank

UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK participants. UK Biobank’s database, which includes blood samples, heart and brain scans and genetic data of the 500,000 volunteer participants, is globally accessible to approved researchers who are undertaking health-related research that is in the public interest. UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 years in 2006-2010 from across the UK. With their consent, they provided detailed information about their lifestyle, physical measures and had blood, urine and saliva samples collected and stored for future analysis. UK Biobank’s research resource is a major contributor in the advancement of modern medicine and treatment, enabling better understanding of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses – including cancer, heart diseases and stroke. Over 30,000 researchers from more than 90 countries are registered to use UK Biobank and more than 11,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published as a result. UK Biobank is supported by Wellcome and the Medical Research Council, as well as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and NIHR. The organisation has over 220 dedicated members of staff, based in multiple locations across the UK.

Find out more here: http://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk