Nationwide Initiative to Build 'Bio Big Data' for 1 Million People Begins in Earnest

'National Integrated Bio Big Data Construction Project' Launch Ceremony
Recruitment of Rare, Severe, and General Participants Begins Through 38 Institutions Nationwide

The Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on the 19th that they held the launch ceremony of the 'National Integrated Bio Big Data Construction Project' at L Tower in Seoul.

The National Integrated Bio Big Data Construction Project is a project that integrates and manages medical data such as clinical information, public data, and genomic data centered on individuals based on the voluntary participation and consent of the public. During the first phase of the project, which runs until 2028, a total of 772,000 participants including patients with rare diseases, patients with severe diseases, and general participants will be recruited. Subsequently, through the second phase of the project from 2029 to 2032, a total of 1 million bio big data will be constructed.

The launch ceremony was attended by related ministries including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as well as officials from related organizations such as the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and the National Integrated Bio Big Data Construction Project Group, and 38 medical institutions including Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul Asan Medical Center, and Samsung Medical Center. At the event, the progress and contents of the project were introduced, future plans were shared, a plaque awarding ceremony for participating institutions marking the launch of the project was held, and a meeting was conducted to listen to opinions from project stakeholders.

So far, the related ministries have formed and operated the project group, selected policy-designated institutions and task-performing institutions for major tasks, and established system infrastructure to lay the foundation for building the National Integrated Bio Big Data.

Citizens who wish to participate in the National Integrated Bio Big Data Construction Project can receive guidance on the project explanation and reservation methods through the project group’s website. They can visit one of the 38 recruitment institutions nationwide that corresponds to their participation type (patients with rare diseases, patients with severe diseases, or general participants), complete consent forms and questionnaires, and then donate specimens such as blood and urine along with clinical information.

Data and specimens collected from participants will be safely stored and utilized through the Korea Health and Medical Information Service’s Human Biospecimen Bank (Data Bank) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s National Central Human Resource Bank (Bio Bank). From 2026, this data will be opened to researchers at universities and hospitals for use in research such as precision medicine and digital healthcare development.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.