Discovery’s Edge: Home to National Million-Person Biobank
May 31, 2016
The National Institutes of Health is spearheading the effort and for the past year has been organizing the foundational elements. Today, NIH formally announced that a major cornerstone – the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program biobank – will be based at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
While the NIH announcement did not specify the reasons why Mayo Clinic was chosen to host and operate the biobank, one may assume factors included its expertise in medical genomics and a wide range of supporting infrastructure:
- Mayo’s Center for Individualized Medicine, which offers research and clinical genomic expertise, ranging from its Individualized Medicine Clinic, to its multifaceted programs in research and education.
- The experience and example of the Mayo Clinic Biobank, begun several years ago and already serving as a research resource. That biobank houses a state-of-the-science freezer complex, already capable of holding a million blood or serum samples.
Read more about the Mayo Clinic Biobank.
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