BioBank Japan

In 2003, the order-made medical treatment program funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) was started. In this program, BioBank Japan (BBJ) collected DNA, serum and clinical information from 200,000 patients nationwide suffering from at least one of the 47 common diseases such as lifestyle-related diseases and various cancers as the first cohort. From 2013 to 2017, under a new phase of the order-made medical treatment program, BBJ collected DNA and clinical information from 67,000 patients with 38 common diseases as the second cohort. In fiscal 2018, BBJ was succeeded by the Biobank Program for Genomic and Clinical Research, in which the samples, clinical information and genome data acquired over the years by BBJ would be used for various medical research. The program also collaborates with other biobanks with the aim of contributing the achievement of genomic medicine.