A consortium composed of Macrogen, DNA Link and Theragen Bio has commenced in earnest the “K-DNA project” to establish national bio big data, Macrogen said on Monday.  

The state project, jointly conducted by the Ministries of Health and Welfare, Science and ICT, and Trade, Industry and Energy, seeks to produce more than 20,000 clinical information and genome data over the next couple of years. The ministries and the three-company consortium signed an official agreement last Friday.  

The consortium has finalized the project's basic elements and will begin analyzing the collected samples next month, Macrogen said. 

During the first year of the pilot project, the consortium will turn out high-quality human genome sequencing data using the next generation sequencing (NGS) technique on 7,500 donated DNA samples. 

“The government’s selection of this consortium as the executor of this pilot project is the recognition of the participants’ experience and technological prowess in genome data production,” said the top managers of the three companies. “The consortium plans to lay the foundation for the main project by accomplishing the pilot project, helping to advance the national health system and raise the competitiveness of the local bio-health industry.”