Arctic Biobank

Arctic Biobank – University of Oulu was established in 2020 to host large population-based sample collections from Northern Finland. It is a licensed biobank governed by the Biobank Act (688/2021).

Biological samples and relating data collected before 2013 in Northern Finland Birth Cohorts – Research program for health and well-being can be requested from Arctic Biobank.

Arctic Biobank aims to promote research in health and well-being, and in medicine and life sciences. It provides samples and data for high-quality research projects aimed at elucidating the causes of disease and the impact of genetics, environment, and lifestyles on their onset.

Arctic Biobank

Arctic Biobank hosts samples and data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohorts data collections (NFBC1966 and NFBC1986), which have been followed on a regular basis. In addition, samples and data from two cohorts on aging populations with individuals born in 1935 (Oulu1935) and 1945 (Oulu1945) are included.

Samples collected before 2013 have been transferred to Arctic Biobank together with related data. Cohort participants have been notified of the transfers in person by a letter during the fall of 2020, spring of 2021 and winter of 2022. Material requests for Arctic Biobank can be done directly to the biobank or via the national Fingenious portal.

Arctic Biobank material collections

Information for researchers

Arctic Biobank aims to promote research in health and well-being, and in medicine and life sciences. It provides samples and data for high-quality research projects aimed at elucidating the causes of disease and the impact of genetics, environment and lifestyles on their onset. The results of the research will help prevent disease and develop safer, more effective and individualized treatments.

Arctic Biobank - material request and use of data

Biobank research projects and publications

Research projects

Descriptions of research projects using samples and data from Arctic Biobank are published after the material transfer agreement has been signed.

Name of the project	Description of the project
FinnGen: Combining genetic and electronic health record data to improve drug discovery (2021)	FinnGen is one of the very first personalized medicine projects at this scale and the public-private collaborative nature of the project is exceptional compared to many ongoing studies. FinnGen study launched in Finland in the autumn of 2017 is a unique study that combines genome information with digital health care data. The FinnGen study is an unprecedented global research project representing one of the largest studies of this type. Project aims to improve human health through genetic research, and ultimately identify new therapeutic targets and diagnostics for treating numerous diseases. The collaborative nature of the project is exceptional compare to many ongoing studies, and all the partners are working closely together to ensure appropriate transparency, data security and ownership. FinnGen brings together Finnish universities, hospitals and hospital districts, THL, biobanks, international pharmaceutical companies and, hopefully hundreds of thousands of Finns. Collaboration is the key to achieving breakthroughs in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Read more from the FinnGen project's web pages
Early effects of the C9orf72 repeat expansion (2022)	This study aims at examining the utility of the genetic marker (SNP rs139185008) in identifying the C9orf72 repeat expansion. We also evaluate possible associations between the C9orf72 repeat expansion carriership and early learning difficulties, psychiatric symptoms and disorders and other illnesses manifesting in early childhood or adolescence. (Johanna Krüger, MD, PhD, University of Oulu)
Circulating ncRNAs as biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases (2023)	Cardiovascular pathologies induce accumulation of extracellular matrix in the heart, which results in increased ventricular stiffness and disrupts the normal electrical cell-to-cell coupling and impulse conduction predisposing to arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Currently, there are no useful biomarkers for detecting myocardial fibrosis and no specific therapies exist for treatment of cardiac fibrosis. Our aim is to identify biomarkers of fibrosis and non-coding RNAs dysregulated in fibrotic hearts. Understanding the signaling mechanisms involved in cardiac fibrosis may provide new diagnostic opportunities and has potential to provide novel targets for therapy of cardiac fibrosis. More info available from https://www.oulu.fi/en/projects/genetic-causes-and-molecular-mechanisms-myocardial-fibrosis. (Risto Kerkelä, Research Unit of Biomedicine and Internal Medicine, University of Oulu)
Body weight trajectories; molecular entropy and aging with multi-morbidity; life-course models and pathways (2024)	This project will study how and why people develop more than one disease while aging. This great health issue is called multi-morbidity and has grave consequences. It is difficult to treat multi-morbidity as we do not know which health issue to treat first and how these are connected to each other. For example, we often meet patients with obesity, diabetes, depression, dementia, hypertension, hearing impairment etc., that also require multiple medications. Nevertheless, there is evidence that multi-morbidity does not develop randomly, and it could be prevented at least partially through the prevention of obesity. To study the best prevention methods, we will use data from birth cohorts collected from birth up until age 60 to observe and measure how the process is developing due to change in body weight gain, genetic factors, and molecular aging. The knowledge will be used in preventing multi-morbidity. (Sylvain Sebert, Research Unit of Population Health, University of Oulu).
FinnGen 3 EDTA-Plasma sample request ﬁrst batch (2024)	FinnGen is a 10-year study aiming to identify genetic risk factors for thousands of diseases. The third phase of the FinnGen study focuses on deeper analyses of diseases and genetic variants identified in the earlier phases without expanding the current cohort of 520,000 participants. The project will emphasize longitudinal studies of disease progression and therapeutic responses and explore the biological mechanisms of genetic signals in selected diseases. New health data and molecular profiling data will be integrated with the existing data to further boost our understanding of the biological processes underlying disease development in individuals with specific genetic variants. Proteins serve as vital biomarkers for diseases and drug responses, influenced by genetic, clinical, and environmental factors, and are essential for monitoring overall health. To enable proteomic analyses in FinnGen, we will produce proteomic data from selected EDTA plasma samples collected by the Finnish biobanks. We will test whether the Finnish-enriched disease-associated variants have an impact on the plasma protein profile. These analyses can help us to understand which genetically identified targets may be suitable for halting or slowing disease progression and further enhance novel drug development and precision medicine applications.
FinnGen 3 Bipolar and eating disorder DNA sample request (2024)	FinnGen is a 10-year study aiming to identify genetic risk factors for thousands of diseases. The third phase of the FinnGen study focuses on deeper analyses of diseases and genetic variants identified in the earlier phases without expanding the current cohort of 520,000 participants. The project will emphasize longitudinal studies of disease progression and therapeutic responses and explore the biological mechanisms of genetic signals in selected diseases. New health data and molecular profiling data will be integrated with the existing data to further boost our understanding of the biological processes underlying disease development in individuals with specific genetic variants. In this FinnGen sub-effort, we aim to identify rare variants that contribute to bipolar disorder and severe eating disorders by exome sequencing approximately 12,000 FinnGen participants. Current knowledge indicates that mental health disorders have a polygenic genetic background. In addition to a combined effect of many minor genetic risk factors (polygenic risk), sequencing studies have identified rare coding variants with a larger impact on disease risk. Despite their rarity, these variants are important for understanding the biological mechanisms that lead to disease susceptibility, potentially opening up new opportunities for functional studies and novel treatment options.
Adaptations to Arctic environments in Northern Finland (2024)	The peopling of the Arctic region by humans was enabled by a range of physiological and behavioural adaptations. These were facilitated by genetic adaptations, including thermogenesis, vaso-physiology, fatty acid metabolism and various immunological functions. However, studies have mainly focussed on Arctic populations in Siberia and Greenland. This study aims to fill this gap by studying individuals in Northern Finland. The study will identify genomic regions with signals of cold adaptation and link them to their biological processes, including susceptibility to common chronic cardio-metabolic diseases, by combining the Arctic genomes with data from biobanks in Finland and Estonia. Furthermore, previous research has shown that many cold-adapted variants have a recent evolutionary origin and are rare or absent outside the arctic region. (Jon Anders Eriksson, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu)

Publications

2024

Eklund N, Pätsi S-M, Lehtiniemi H, et al. Connecting cohorts of Finnish biobanks creates a research resource for the study of healthy ageing. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/14034948241228482

Arctic Biobank

Arctic Biobank

Arctic Biobank material collections

Information for researchers

Arctic Biobank - material request and use of data

Biobank research projects and publications

Biobank research projects and publications

Research projects

Publications

Biobank steering group and scientific committee

Arctic Biobank steering group and scientific committee

Communication and feedback

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