SNP it all together

Genomewide association studies can link SNPs to specific disease phenotypes, but the narrow scope of individual SNP studies limits their power of prediction for targeting the associated genes. Genomics plc is developing a computational platform that integrates disparate sets of genomic and phenotypic data to predict the good and bad outcomes of a compound's on-target effects.

The company has "the largest database of its kind that links genetic variation with health and other phenotypic outcomes," said co-founder and director Peter Donnelly. "Most groups in the academic context doing disease studies take individuals with a particular disease and measure them genetically, and compare them with healthy individuals and look for differences. We're in the position where we know the relationship between genetic variation and many different things." Donnelly is also director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and a professor of statistical science at the University of Oxford...