Branded a “new milestone in data sharing” by National Library of Medicine Director Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, the new database of Genotypes and PhenoTypes (dbGaP), was launched in December to distribute data from genome-wide association (GWA) studies.

National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Branch Chief James Ostell, PhD, noted that “the potential scientific advances from this information represent a payoff not only for the taxpayers who financed genomic and clinical research, but for the patients who participated in clinical trials in hopes of furthering public health.”

Data from dbGaP is also linked to related literature in PubMed, and to molecular data in other NCBI databases. NCBI expects to add databases, enhancements and additional studies over the next several years.