AsianScientist (Mar. 18, 2016) – In partnership with the Simons Foundation, WuXi NextCODE, a global genomic information and precision medicine company, has made an autism genetics database publicly available. Called the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), the database is now accessible on WuXi NextCODE’s integrated cloud-based database, the WuXi NextCODE Exchange.
The WuXi NextCODE SSC portal has been inaugurated by autism researchers from seventeen leading institutions from the US, Canada, China, France, Iceland, Austria, Ireland, Brazil and Qatar, and will be open to researchers worldwide. Those interested can apply for training and access via the WuXi NextCODE SSC signup or by writing to collections [at] simonsfoundation.org.
The SSC holds a collection of genomic sequences and detailed clinical phenotypic data from nearly 2,600 families with one child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and unaffected parents and siblings. Comprising 10,000 exomes from these families, the SSC is the largest dataset ever to be made fully usable over an ordinary internet connection. The data can instantly be used in tandem with other major datasets around the world.
SSC users can now directly study individual genomes, families or the entire collection using WuXi NextCODE’s integrated clinical discovery tools. They can also tap into both GATK and FreeBayes variant calls for all samples; view findings with visualizations; and collaborate with colleagues, all without having to move or download data files. The data is stored in WuXi NextCODE’s HIPAA-compliant cloud, powered by DNAnexus.
“The SSC was conceived and has succeeded as a large-scale, open-access discovery engine. We are excited to be partnering with WuXi NextCODE to realize the next phase in the SSC’s potential by making it directly accessible to the autism community worldwide,” said Dr. Louis Reichardt, director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.
“Usable online, it can serve as the hub of a network of major autism datasets and virtual cohorts of ever greater power, and we invite everyone in the field to take advantage of it.”
“Putting the SSC on the Exchange is a landmark in creating a working internet of DNA, and it is appropriate that it should address autism,” said Mr. Hannes Smarason, COO of WuXi NextCODE.
“Unraveling its complexity demands the creation of truly vast datasets, and we look forward to working with the Foundation and the autism community to refine this resource, bring in whole genome data, and continue to expand the scale, scope and reach of the SSC in pursuit of this goal.”
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Source: WuXi Apptec; Photo: WuXi NextCODE.
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