The DNA variations are quite different across different populations. Such difference will cause changes of protein levels within our body, and change our phenotypes (such as hair colour and body weight), and influence our health conditions at the end. Therefore it is very important to understand how DNA variations across populations influence our health. However, such research requires specific experts on subjects such as genetics, informatics and epidemiology. We also need to access a wide range of data, such as our DNA, protein, health conditions and disease information across multiple populations. We therefore plan to build up a platform called Omics Harbour, to facilitate the application of health-related research using genetic and observational association data from multiple populations. The platform will achieve the following objectives:
(1) to collate and centralise genetic and observational association data from multiple populations;
(2) develop a database to store and mange all the association data across populations; and
(3) to develop an analysis pipeline to make best use of the above association data, which will help us to link DNA, protein, healthcare and disease together.
