With improved genetic sequencing comes larger human genome databases that could lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for clinical laboratories
As the COVID-19 pandemic grabbed headlines, the human genome database at the US Department of Veterans Affairs Million Veterans Program (MVP) quietly grew. Now, this wealth of genomic information—as well as data from other large-scale genomic and genetic collections—is expected to produce new biomarkers for clinical laboratory diagnostics and testing.
In December, cancer genomics company Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) of Menlo Park, Calif., achieved a milestone and delivered its 100,000th whole human genome sequence to the MVP, according to a news release, which also states that Personalis is the sole sequencing provider to the MVP.
The VA’s MVP program, which started in 2011, has 850,000 enrolled veterans and is expected to eventually involve two million people. The VA’s aim is to explore the role genes, lifestyle, and military experience play in health and human illness, notes the VA’s MVP website.
Health conditions affecting veterans the MVP is researching include:
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Diabetes
- Gene Variation
- Gulf War Illness
- Informatics
- Kidney Disease
- Macular Degeneration
- Mental Health
- Osteoarthritis
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Substance Use Disorders
- Suicide Prevention
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Tinnitus
The VA has contracted with Personalis through September 2021, and has invested $175 million, Clinical OMICS reported. Personalis has earned approximately $14 million from the VA. That’s about 76% of the company’s revenue, according to 2nd quarter data, Clinical OMICS noted.
Database of Veterans’ Genomes Used in Current Research
What has the VA gained from their investment so far? An MVP fact sheet states researchers are tapping MVP data for these and other veteran health-related studies:
- Gene variations associated with different tumor structures in patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma.
- Differentiating between prostate cancer tumors that require treatment and others that are slow-growing and not life-threatening.
- How genetics drives obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
- How data in DNA translates into actual physiological changes within the body.
- Gene variations and patients’ response to Warfarin.
NIH Research Program Studies Effects of Genetics on Health
Another research program, the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us study, recently began returning results to its participants who provided blood, urine, and/or saliva samples. The NIH aims to aid research into health outcomes influenced by genetics, environment, and lifestyle, explained a news release. The program, launched in 2018, has biological samples from more than 270,000 people with a goal of one million participants.
NIH’s All of Us program partners include:
- Mayo Clinic
- Color
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Broad Institute
- Northwest Genomics Center at University of Washington
Inclusive Data Could Aid Precision Medicine
The news release notes that more than 80% of biological samples in the All of Us database come from people in communities that have been under-represented in biomedical research.
“We need programs like All of Us to build diverse datasets so that research findings ultimately benefit everyone,” said Brad Ozenberger, PhD, All of Us Genomics Program Director, in the news release.
Precision medicine designed for specific healthcare populations is a goal of the All of Us program.
“[All of Us is] beneficial to all Americans, but actually beneficial to the African American race because a lot of research and a lot of medicines that we are taking advantage of today, [African Americans] were not part of the research,” Chris Crawford, All of US Research Study Navigator, told the Birmingham Times. “As [the All of Us study] goes forward and we get a big diverse group of people, it will help as far as making medicine and treatment that will be more precise for us,” he added.
Large Databases Could Advance Care
Genome sequencing technology continues to improve. It is faster, less complicated, and cheaper to sequence a whole human genome than ever before. And the resulting sequence is more accurate.
Thus, as human genome sequencing databases grow, researchers are deriving useful scientific insights from the data. This is relevant for clinical laboratories because the new insights from studying bigger databases of genomic information will produce new diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers that can be the basis for new clinical laboratory tests as well as useful diagnostic assays for anatomic pathologists.
—Donna Marie Pocius
Related Information:
VA Extends Personalis Contract for Million Veterans Project With $31M Task Order
Million Veteran Program Research Projects
All of Us Research Program Returns First Genetic Results to Participants
All of Us Research: Why Some Get Sick and Others Are in Great Health
