Cyprus participating in 'Genome of Europe' project

The University of Cyprus (UCY) biobank.cy Center of Excellence, the official implementing body, has announced the launch of the European Project 'Genome of Europe' (GoE) in Cyprus.

This is the largest pan-European programme for population genomics and was launched in response to the rapidly increasing use of genetic data in research and clinical applications, but also to the lack of a European digital reference data collection for the complete sequencing of the genome (Whole Genome Sequence - WGS).

A press release by the UCY said that by early 2028, the scientists aspire to create the first European reference genome, the digital representation of DNA in the human cell.

It will reflect European genetic and ancestral diversity by country, including minorities. To achieve this goal, the participation of more than 100,000 European citizens, both from existing biobanks and from new volunteers, is foreseen. The genomic data will create national genomic reference groups that will be collected and presented at European level.

The “Genome of Europe” is one of the most comprehensive genomic projects in the world to date, as it is a unique collection of data that will restore the fragmentation of genetic information in the EU member states and will make a decisive contribution to cutting-edge medical research for the prediction, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the press release noted.

At the same time, it will strengthen progress in personalized medicine and support public health policy measures, such as for rare diseases and cancer.

The Project involves 49 partners from 27 European countries (26 EU countries + 1 non-EU country) with funding of 45 million euros, of which 20 million come from the EU under the “Digital Europe” programme, the press release says.

Cyprus is expected to contribute a total of 310 fully sequenced representative genomes of the Cypriot population from the Biobank.cy Center of Excellence of the University of Cyprus, as the relevant body. More about the Genome of Europe at the link: https://biobank.cy/portfolio/goe/.

The “Genome of Europe” data will also feed into the European Research Project “Genomic Data Infrastructure” (GDI) which is part of the Digital Europe Programme and will allow access to genomic data across Europe for research, healthcare and public health policy purposes.

The GDI project was designed to support the European 1+ Million Genomes Initiative (1+MG) and will create opportunities for secondary use in the broader context of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). The implementing body of the GDI project is the biobank.cy Centre of Excellence of the University of Cyprus and the Ministry of Health.

All procedures are governed by bioethical, legal and social concerns, strict data security standards and (inter)national guidelines for the responsible use of fully sequenced genomes with the aim of better healthcare for EU citizens, the press release concluded.

(Source: CNA)