SNPs Database Released - single nucleotide polymorphism database released by SNP Consortium Ltd - Brief Article

Applied Genetics News, Dec 19, 1999

The SNP Consortium, Ltd., (8770 West Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60631; Tel: 773/867-2990, Fax: 773/867-2991) a collaborative effort to create a database of genetic markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), has released into the public domain approximately 2,300 newly identified and characterized SNPs. These data are now available for the free and unrestricted use of biomedical researchers worldwide.

"Members of the SNP Consortium believe that a high-quality SNP map will prove to be an essential tool for understanding the genetic basis of disease, and as such, should not be subject to intellectual property restrictions," says Arthur Holden, chair and CEO of the SNP Consortium.

The consortium's SNP data set can be accessed via the internet, both through the SNP Consortium's website (www.snp.cshl.org) and "dbSNP" (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), a public database maintained by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Biotechnology Information.

By comparing SNP patterns in various patient and control populations, medical researchers hope to identify genetic differences that predispose some but not others to diseases, and that underlie variability in individual responses to treatment. In turn, this knowledge is expected to enhance understanding of disease processes and facilitate discovery, development, and delivery of safer and more effective treatments. Ultimately, SNP technology may lead to the development of "personalized medicine," in which disease prevention strategies and treatments are more closely tailored to an individual's genetic profile.

Commercial interest in SNPs has been surging, according to Cambridge Healthtech Institute (Tel: 617/630-1338, Website: www..genemicreports.com), which has just released a report on the subject ("Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms: Commercial and Scientific Prospects"). More than 50 companies are now investigating SNPs, including large pharma companies, such as Glaxo Wellcome, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Hoffman-La Roche. More than 20 new SNP genotyping tools or services are either available or close to market.

The SNP Consortium intends over 2 years to identify 300,000 and map at least 150,000 SNPs, evenly distributed throughout the genome. To date, the consortium has identified over 15,000 candidate SNPs. The data set just released comprises 2,279 SNPs that have been mapped to the locations where they occur on the chromosomes.

Subsequent releases of data will occur as additional SNPs are mapped and their authenticity verified. The SNP map will be made publicly available to medical researchers worldwide at the same time it becomes available to members of the consortium, according to Lincoln Stein of the bioinformatics program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the group responsible for managing the consortium's SNP database.