In 2007, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) introduced the Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) Policy and the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) to facilitate 'controlled' access to GWAS data based on participants' informed consent. dbGaP has provided 2,221 investigators access to 304 studies, resulting in 924 publications and significant scientific advances. Following on this success, the 2014 Genomic Data Sharing Policy will extend the GWAS Policy to additional data types.
Supplementary information: The online version of this article (doi:10.1038/ng.3062) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.