SciLifeLab now welcomes applications for the first national research projects, based on next generation DNA sequencing. The projects focus on two areas: whole genome human DNA sequencing to study the genetic basis of disease, and studies related to biodiversity.

Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) is a national center for molecular biosciences with focus on health and environmental research. SciLifeLab supports Swedish researchers by offering state-of-the art technology platforms, courses in large scale methods, and most recently by opening a nation-wide call. The call will enable high quality Swedish research projects to access whole genome sequencing at a greatly reduced cost.

“We are very pleased to offer funding for national projects in both human genetics and biodiversity, and expect that this will allow Swedish scientists to collaborate around important biomedical and environmental questions”, says Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Co-Director of SciLifeLab.

The projects; The Swedish Genomes Program and The Swedish Biodiversity Program, will run 2014-2015. Both projects are based on massively parallel sequencing using the National Genomics Infrastructure (NGI) at SciLifeLab, and will allow Swedish scientists to carry out internationally competitive research. Granted projects will receive free access to sequencing infrastructure and significant funding for sequencing reagents.

The Swedish Genomes Program will focus on identifying genetic causes of common human diseases. It also aims to establish a reference database of genetic variation in Sweden, which will be available for comparison in genetic disease studies.

The Swedish Biodiversity Program targets biodiversity of bacteria, viruses, archaea and eukaryotes and combinations thereof. The program will be a key for studies of environmental effects on biodiversity.

“Sweden’s strong track record in biobanking and clinical characterization of patient cohorts should allow important questions to be addressed related to the molecular mechanisms and diagnosis of human disease”, says Kerstin Lindblad-Toh. “In the same way, we expect Swedish environmental scientists to pose key questions that can be addressed by large-scale sequencing”.

Read more about the call 

For more information, please contact:

Karin Dahlman-Wright, karin.dahlman-wright@scilifelab.se
Karin Forsberg-Nilsson, karin.nilsson@scilifelab.uu.se
Mats Nilsson, mats.nilsson@scilifelab.se

Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) is a national center for molecular biosciences with focus on health and environmental research. The center combines frontline technical expertise with advanced knowledge of translational medicine and molecular bioscience. SciLifeLab is a national resource and a collaboration between four universities: Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Uppsala University.