Oxford Nanopore announced that it is collaborating with the UK Biobank on an initiative to create a comprehensive, large-scale epigenetic dataset, with the aim of gaining critical insights into the disease mechanisms of cancer, neurological disorders, and other complex diseases.
The project, which the partners describe as the world's first comprehensive, large-scale epigenetic dataset, builds on a new strategic partnership between the UK Biobank, Genomics England, and the National Health Service (NHS) England to advance biomedical research. Oxford Nanopore is also contributing to a biosurveillance system as part of this initiative.
In a statement, Oxford Nanopore said that the initiative will use the company's direct sequencing technology to map epigenetic modifications across 50,000 samples. Oxford Nanopore sequencing, based on direct sequencing of native DNA/RNA, provides a view of up to 98% of the methylation markers across the genome compared to only 3% based on microarrays, the firm noted. This technology will enable the project to capture nearly the entire epigenome.
The dataset will be publicly available to serve as a resource for researchers. It will consist predominantly of data from healthy participants, Oxford Nanopore said, providing a baseline for disease studies and supporting the creation of population-level risk profiles.
The dataset could create opportunities for new clinical applications, including disease risk screening and more precise diagnostics to support early-stage detection and intervention, as well as enable personalized treatments tailored to patients' unique epigenetic profiles, the firm added.
