LifeLines-deep is a subproject of LifeLines, a prospective population cohort of 165,000 individuals who will be followed for 30 years. LifeLines aims to investigate universal risk factors and modifying environmental factors contributing to chronic diseases, and diseases of the elderly. LifeLines-deep comprises ~1500 individuals who have deep molecular phenotypes based on “omics” profiling, including: (1) whole-genome genotype data; (2) whole-genome methylation 450k data; (3) whole-genome gene expression data; (4) metabolomics from plasma and exhaled breath; and (5) gut microbiota.
Cohort studies (on biobank data) provide information about factors leading to the incidence or absence of diseases, notably the effects of interaction between risk factors. LifeLines is one of the most valuable, multidimensional, biobanks in the world and it will eventually become the largest population-based study in the Netherlands. LifeLines offers a unique data resource for the study of a broad range of genetic/epigenetic, biomedical, environmental and psychosocial factors in relation to healthy ageing, disease development, and general well-being.