Pilot study confirms that collection and transport of volunteer's blood from sites around the UK to the Biobank laboratories in Manchester could be undertaken without any reduction in sample quality
DxS, a personalised medicine company, has announced the successful completion of a molecular process pilot study for the prestigious UK Biobank.
This confirmed that collection and transport of volunteer's blood from sites around the UK to the Biobank laboratories in Manchester could be undertaken without any reduction in sample quality.
Biobank appointed DxS to both manage the project and perform the crucial genomics element of the study.
This was able to show conclusively that DNA extracted from the samples processed and stored in a variety of ways was suitable for a variety of testing.
The samples were also found by other collaborating labs to be suitable for analysis using clinical chemistry, proteomic and metabolomic techniques.
Once fully operational, the UK Biobank will be the world's biggest resource for the study of the role of genes, environment and lifestyle in health and disease.
Involving up to half a million participants over the next five years, it will build on the work of the Human Genome Project, helping to convert this information into public health benefits.
A national resource of unprecedented size will be created containing biological samples and information on the participants' current health, lifestyle and medical histories.
Stephen Little, CEO of DxS, comments: "The UK Biobank is one of the most important life sciences projects in the world today.
"The knowledge arising from this endeavour will improve our understanding of the relationship between genes and health leading to tests for improved prediction, prevention and treatment of disease.
"DxS's role has to been to effectively manage the testing project and to demonstrate clearly that the genetic material collected will allow scientists to perform comprehensive testing on every sample and the company is delighted to have contributed to this flagship project".
Commenting on DxS's involvement, Tim Peakman, acting CEO of the UK Biobank, says: "DxS has made a big contribution to the success of the molecular pilot studies.
"It provided excellent project management support in delivering the pilot project on time and to budget with a number of leading academic collaborators across a range of disciplines.
"It has completed a wide range of tests on the genetic material collected in the pilot producing high quality data to demonstrate that the samples will be suitable for a wide range of assays in the future".
