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The aim is to detail the SNP Consortium's formation, operations, and innovations in genomic research.

May 21, 2026Open Access

The SNP consortium: background and context

Key Points

The aim is to detail the SNP Consortium's formation, operations, and innovations in genomic research.
Describes the establishment of TSC in 1999 as a nonprofit collaboration.
Highlights the funding sources, including pharmaceutical companies and the Wellcome Trust.
Explores the legal structure and unique patent strategies employed by TSC.
TSC completed its work ahead of schedule and under budget.
The collaboration produced more results than initially planned.
Established models for future research collaborations across various scientific fields.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The SNP Consortium (‘TSC’) was a nonprofit research collaboration formed in 1999 to identify, map, and publicly release human genomic markers known as ‘single nucleotide polymorphisms’ (SNPs). The project was funded by a group of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and information technology companies, together with the Wellcome Trust, which collectively contributed 53 million to the project. TSC was the rare scientific undertaking that completed its work ahead of schedule, under budget, and with far more results than planned. This essay describes TSC, its background, legal structure, and novel ‘protective’ patent strategy, which have served as models for later research collaborations in a range of scientific fields.

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