The 100,000 Genomes Project is being delivered by Department of Health owned Genomics England, which was set up to explore how NHS patients could benefit from genomics – the study of the structure, function and meaning of DNA, including looking at how diseases are inherited through genes passed down from one generation to the next.
The project will sequence 100,000 genomes from around 70,000 people. Participants are NHS patients with a rare disease, plus their families, and patients with cancer.
S3 will provide a ‘scale out’ storage system using the EMC Isilon system and will initially provide storage for seven petabytes of data. This allows multiple users to access the same data at the same time which will improve the ability to analyse genomes.
Patient confidentiality and protection is a cornerstone of the 100,000 Genomes Project; data will be stored and accessed with strict research governance and ethical frameworks, which include consent and confidentiality. Data will be held within a secure, monitored data environment and access to this environment will be granted only for specific and approved purposes by Genomics England.
S3 has a long standing market presence in Life Sciences and has been involved from the very first genome project in 1993. S3’s focus in this sector means that it helps to keep customers up to date with the latest technology that can help them in their work. S3’s storage platform delivers a long term solution that is reliable, easy to use and has all the functionality, features and benefits of IT while minimising the cost.
Mark Smith, managing director, S3, said “We have previously worked with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge for the storage elements of the first genome, the 1000 genome and the 10,000 genome projects, so it’s great that we are able to continue to contribute to this highly beneficial work.”
Dave Brown, Genomics England head of informatics infrastructure, said: “S3’s involvement in the deployment of our Isilon storage has been invaluable in terms of meeting project timescales.”