China sets up the world’s largest gene bank in Shenzhen

Gene research is an effective way to prevent birthdefects and discover genetic diseases in their earlystages. It’s also what enables you to open youriPhone with the touch of a thumb.

Enter the China National GeneBank (CNGB), thelargest gene bank of its kind in the world. Situatedon the foot of Guanyin Mountain in Dapeng NewDistrict, Shenzhen, the center is used for preservingand managing genome data and biological samplesas well as carrying out research for hundreds of millions of genetic samples. The site is alsohome to a cancer database with more than 3,000 samples.

Resembling a cruise ship and holding a massive library of animal, plant, microorganism andhuman body cell samples, the CNGB is often nicknamed ‘China’s Noah’s Arc’ by mainlandmedia.

Prior to its opening in September 2016, the world’s largest gene banks were located in the US, Japan and Britain.

“We hope to make the gene bank China’s – and even the world’s – largest biologicalinformation data center, like Google but in the field of life and health data,” Director MeiYonghong is quoted as saying.