Science ministry opens national bio big data project to all citizens

The science ministry said Wednesday that South Korea has opened participation in its National Integrated Bio Big Data project to all citizens, easing a requirement that had limited enrolment to people who had undergone state health screenings.

Under the change, any citizen who wants to take part may do so after completing the examination procedures run by a participating recruitment institution, the ministry said in a release issued jointly with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The project collects health and genetic information donated by citizens and opens it safely to researchers, with the data intended as a resource for building Korean-owned medical artificial intelligence, developing new drugs and advanced medical devices, and realising personalised precision medicine. Recruitment had focused on people with screening records; the government said it has now relaxed the criteria substantially so that those outside the screening system can join.

The event was held at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital in Sinchon, where participants signed consent forms, gave blood and underwent body measurements. Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyung, National AI Strategy Committee Vice Chairman Ha Jeong-woo, Korea Health Industry Development Institute President Ko Sang-baek and Severance Hospital officials were among the roughly 40 people who donated bio data.

"The National Integrated Bio Big Data is a public asset completed through the participation of each and every citizen," Jung said. "I am deeply grateful to the citizens who took part."

She added that the first data release in November would be the start of efforts to ensure the data is used safely and widely so that the results of medical innovation reach the public.

The project is a state-led research and development programme run jointly by the health and welfare, science and ICT, and industry ministries together with the disease control agency, and operated by the National Integrated Bio Big Data project team at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, headed by Paik Rong-min.

At a policy discussion held alongside the donation event, officials shared the project's progress and the plan for the first data release in November.