Journal of Genetics and Genomics · Feb 7, 2026
The Taizhou Longitudinal Study: a population-based biobank resource of genetic and biochemical biomarkers for precision medicine in China
By Jiang Y, Lu L, Liu Z et al.
The Taizhou Longitudinal Study (TZL) is a population-based prospective cohort initiated in 2007, recruiting over 201,000 adults aged 20-80 from urban and rural areas of Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The cohort is extensively phenotyped through baseline questionnaire-based interviews, physical examinations, biochemical assays, and longitudinal follow-up using health records and repeated assessments. A wide range of biospecimens, including blood, urine, saliva, and feces, have been collected to enable omics-level profiling. Genome-wide genotyping has been performed for approximately 50,000 participants recruited from 2009 to 2014. Here, we present an integrated overview of the existing and planned genetic and phenotypic resources, describe genotyping and quality control procedures, and assess cryptic relatedness and population structure, followed by genome-wide association analyses of 66 physical and biochemical traits. In total, 533 independent loci reach Bonferroni significance after clumping. These analyses identify 55 previously unreported loci, demonstrating the capacity of the TZL to elucidate the genetic architecture of complex traits in East Asian populations. By integrating high-quality phenotypic and genotypic data, the TZL enables a comprehensive investigation of gene-environment interactions in the Chinese population. With ongoing expansions and development of a controlled-access data-sharing platform, the TZL is positioned as a valuable resource for precision medicine and public health research.