Using high performance computing to create and freely distribute the South Asian genomic database, necessary for precision medicine in this population

Abstract

Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. Efforts to implement precision medicine have gained traction in recent years due to significantly increased understanding of the role of genetic variations in human disease over the past decade. However, delivery of precision medicine requires robust population specific reference genome datasets for full appreciation of existing natural variation. A large majority of publicly available genomic databases are primarily derived from Caucasian populations and do not fully address the diversity of Asian populations. In an effort to address this problem, we have aggregated and built a genomic database, ggcINDIA, specifically for South Asian populations. In collaboration with Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), we have made this database publicly available to the community through the GA4GH's Beacon project. ggcINDIA represents the first Beacon for South Asian populations. As more data are generated and aggregated, the ggcINDIA beacon will provide the precise genomic data that is critical to the delivery of precision medicine within South Asia. © The Authors 2016.