Personal Genome Project

What Personal Genome Project does

The Personal Genome Project (PGP) is an international non-profit research initiative initiated in 2005 and operated under the Open Humans Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit. PGP recruits willing participants who consent to publicly share their personal genome, health, and trait data under a CC0 public domain waiver, explicitly accepting re-identification risk in exchange for contributing to open scientific research. The Global Network comprises five regional projects hosted at leading academic institutions: Harvard PGP (George Church's lab at Harvard Medical School, 2005), PGP Canada (University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children, 2012), PGP UK (University College London, 2013), Genom Austria (CeMM, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2014), and PGP China (Fudan University, 2017). Each site maintains its own IRB approval and adheres to shared Global Network Guidelines covering public data sharing, non-anonymous consent, equal raw-data access, IRB oversight, and non-profit status.

PGP's core technology is whole-genome sequencing combined with a public data sharing infrastructure that releases integrated genomic and trait datasets for unrestricted reuse. The platform does not sell or license participant data; operations are funded through research grants and institutional support, with headcount reported at 1-10 employees. Outputs include peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Nature Communications, GigaScience, CMAJ, Genome Medicine, and Scientific Reports, covering reference genome construction, variant-calling quality control, privacy-preserving techniques, and open consent frameworks. The go-to-market is community-led: participant recruitment runs through institutional partnerships and project websites, while research reach is built via open-access publication rather than paid distribution.

Name

Personal Genome Project

Legal name

Open Humans Foundation

Website

https://personalgenomes.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Personal Genome Project is a non-profit research initiative that recruits volunteers to publicly share whole-genome and trait data under CC0 licensing, serving academic researchers across a five-region global network led by Harvard, Toronto, UCL, CeMM, and Fudan University.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Genomics Research

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Population Genomics & Preventive Precision Health Programs (HLAAANAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Health Genomics & Sequencing (WGS/Metagenomics) Networks (HLAJAIAK)

Keywords

• Public genomics research
• Genomic data sharing
• Citizen science genomics
• Whole genome sequencing
• Open human genomics

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Non-profit Research Operations: The Personal Genome Project is managed or sponsored by non-profit organizations. The research project is non-profit and does not sell or license participant data or tissues, operating for purposes of scientific progress rather than commercial gain.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Personal Genome Project is an international, non-profit research initiative that creates publicly accessible genome, health, and trait data by recruiting willing participants who consent to share their personal genomic information under a CC0 public domain waiver. It operates through a global network of five affiliated regional projects hosted at leading academic institutions, enabling open scientific research, citizen science, and personalized medicine studies.

Product overview

The Personal Genome Project is a global coalition of projects dedicated to creating public genome, health, and trait data. The network includes five regional initiatives: Harvard PGP (the pilot site founded in 2005 in George Church's Harvard Medical School lab), PGP Canada (2012), PGP UK (2013), Genom Austria (2014), and PGP China (2017). Each regional project operates independently at leading institutions but adheres to shared Global Network Guidelines: public data sharing with CC0 licensing, non-anonymous participation with upfront re-identification risk disclosure, equal participant access to raw data, IRB oversight, and non-profit status. The project provides an integrated, publicly-accessible platform for participants to contribute their genomic and trait data for the greater good of scientific research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Harvard PGP The pilot PGP site, founded August 2005 in George Church's laboratory at Harvard Medical School. It recruits willing participants who publicly share their genomic and trait data in an integrated, publicly-accessible format under a CC0 waiver for use by the global research community.
• PGP Canada PGP Canada, founded December 2012, is operated by the McLaughlin Centre at the University of Toronto and The Centre for Applied Genomics at the Hospital for Sick Children. It enrolls Canadian participants, sequences their whole genomes, and publishes the data for open scientific use.
• PGP UK PGP UK, founded November 2013 and led by Stephen Beck at University College London. It is described as a research and citizen science hybrid project supporting personalized medicine, recruiting UK participants under the Global Network's open-data guidelines.
• Genom Austria Genom Austria, founded November 2014, is based at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. It recruits Austrian participants and contributes their genomic and trait data to the Global Network under CC0 licensing.
• PGP China PGP China, announced October 2017 and led by Professor Li Jin at Fudan University in Shanghai. The project is collecting contact information from interested participants and potential collaborators to build a Chinese contribution to the Global Network's open genomic dataset.

Quantifiable outcome

• First published dataset of 56 Canadian participants' whole genome sequences in CMAJ 2018
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fudan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2017PGP China is led by Professor Li Jin at Fudan University in Shanghai, announced October 2017. PGP China is now collecting contact information from interested participants and potential collaborators.
• CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Austrian Academy of SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2014Genom Austria is based at CeMM, founded November 2014. The research center provides institutional hosting for the Austrian personal genome project.
• University College London (UCL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2013PGP UK is led by Stephen Beck at University College London, founded November 2013. UCL provides institutional support and research leadership for the UK project.
• McLaughlin Centre, University of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2012PGP Canada is operated by the McLaughlin Centre at University of Toronto, established in December 2012. The centre provides institutional support and research infrastructure for Canadian participants.
• The Centre for Applied Genomics, Hospital for Sick ChildrencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2012Co-operator of PGP Canada alongside the McLaughlin Centre. Provides genomics research expertise and infrastructure for the Canadian personal genome project.
• Harvard Medical School / George Church LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2005Harvard PGP is the pilot PGP site, founded in August 2005 and based in George Church's laboratory at Harvard Medical School. George Church is the founder of the Personal Genome Project and continues to lead the Harvard site.
• Open Humans FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that maintains the PersonalGenomes.org website listing the Global Network of Personal Genome Projects. Provides organizational oversight and coordination for the global network.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Nebula Genomics: Personal genomics company emphasizing privacy-preserving whole genome sequencing with user data control. Comparable in personal whole genome sequencing offering, but commercial and privacy-focused versus PGP's open CC0 model.
• GenomeAsia 100K: Initiative to sequence 100,000 Asian individuals to build a population-specific reference genome database. Comparable in building public genomic datasets with international scope, though focused specifically on underrepresented Asian populations.

Direct peers

• All of Us Research Program: NIH-funded program building a publicly accessible database of genomic, health, and trait data from 1M+ US participants. Most directly comparable to PGP in mission of creating open population genomics resources, though larger in scale and scope.
• UK Biobank: Large-scale prospective cohort with deep genomic and phenotypic data from 500K+ participants, widely accessed by researchers. Comparable as a public biomedical data resource enabling population health research, with PG UK operating in the same UK research ecosystem.
• 1000 Genomes Project: International research effort that established the first publicly available catalog of human genetic variation across populations. Closely comparable in providing open, publicly accessible population genomic reference data.
• Human Cell Atlas: International collaborative effort to create comprehensive reference maps of all human cells using open data sharing principles. Comparable as a global, openly-shared biomedical reference resource built through academic consortium governance.
• Open Humans: Nonprofit platform (the legal umbrella for PersonalGenomes.org) enabling individuals to share personal data for research. Operationally intertwined with PGP and shares the open data, participant-driven ethos.

Broad incumbents

• Ancestry: Largest consumer genealogy and personal genomics service with a massive crowdsourced DNA database. Comparable in driving large-scale personal genomic data collection, but closed and commercial versus PGP's open research mission.
• deCODE genetics: Subsidiary of Amgen with deep population-scale genomic and phenotypic data from Iceland. Comparable as a major population genomics research enterprise, though proprietary and commercial rather than open-access.
• 23andMe: Commercial personal genomics company with the largest crowdsourced genotype-phenotype database. Comparable in participant-driven personal genomics, but operates under a commercial, privacy-protected model versus PGP's open CC0 public domain model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pgorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/PersonalGenomesOrg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/personalgenomes-org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Personal Genome Project