Within the variation database, we have increased support for copy number variation data and annotation of individual SNPs [e.g. with disease associations identified in genome-wide scans and with expression QTLs (37)]. The Ensembl variation group is synergistic with the European Genotype Archive (EGA http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ega/) and the 1000 Genomes Project (http://www.1000genomes.org/) data coordination centre groups at the EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute). The EGA was launched in the spring of 2008 and currently manages data from several projects including the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (38) and other projects that are still in pre-publication status. The synergies between these projects will underpin the growth in variation data in Ensembl and the start of its functional annotation.
