Taiwan Biobank: A rich biomedical research database of the Taiwanese population

The Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is an ongoing prospective study of >150,000 individuals aged 20–70 in Taiwan. A comprehensive list of phenotypes was collected for each consented participant at recruitment and follow-up visits through structured interviews and physical measurements. Biomarkers and genetic data were generated from blood and urine samples. We present here an overview of TWB’s genetic data quality, population structure, and familial relationship, which consists of predominantly Han Chinese ancestry, and highlight its important attributes and genetic findings thus far. A linkage to Taiwan’s National Health Insurance database of >25 years and other registries is underway to enrich the phenotypic spectrum and enable deep and longitudinal genetic investigations. TWB provides one of the largest biobank resources for biomedical and public health research in East Asia that will contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis of health and disease in global populations through collaborative studies with other biobanks. [Display omitted] •Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is a prospective population study with >150,000 individuals•Rich phenotypic and genetic data were collected in the Han-Chinese-based cohort•Future linkage to national health registries will empower longitudinal genetic studies•TWB studies contribute to population diversity in global genetics research Feng. et al. describe an impressive biomedical resource in Taiwan that measures a wide range of characteristics in >150,000 individuals along with their genetic makeup. This resource enables large-scale epidemiological and genetic investigations and enriches population diversity in human genomic research.