Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered if any data collected from COVID-19 testing could be used to create (1) a UK DNA biobank, or (2) be used by Genomics England for any purpose.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are not planning to create a new UK DNA biobank specifically for Covid-19 purposes. However, Covid-19 testing data is made available to researchers to support the Covid-19 response.
Regarding whether data collected from Covid-19 testing could be used by Genomics England for any purpose, participants in Genomics England research studies can consent to give access to their nationally held health data, including Covid-19 testing data, for research. Only in cases where participants have given their consent, Public Health England will provide Genomics England with Covid-19 test data to support this research. NHS Test and Trace data forms part of Public Health England’s central dataset.