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The Human Ageing Genomic Resources Are at Risk
For over two decades, the Human Ageing Genomic Resources (HAGR) have supported thousands of scientists worldwide in ageing and longevity research. Today, these globally used databases are at risk of going offline.
Unfortunately, our UK government funding was not renewed in 2024 due to shifting funding priorities. With current UK government research funding frozen, securing renewed infrastructure funding in the near term is unlikely.
We are therefore turning to the community to help sustain these resources until stable funding can be secured.
🌍 The Resources at Stake
With over 200,000 visitors per year and 1,000+ citations, HAGR has become the benchmark platform in the biology of ageing. It includes the leading databases of ageing-related genes, longevity drugs and animal longevity information.
Beyond HAGR, we also maintain the bowhead whale and naked mole-rat genome resources, the Digital Ageing Atlas and GeneFriends.
🎯 Our Funding Goals
Our minimum funding goal is $30,000 to cover 3 years of server & hardware costs and prevent database shutdown.
Our sustainability goal is $120,000 to allow us to hire a part-time web programmer and prevent downtime, perform software updates plus conference dissemination.
If we surpass our goals, funding above $200,000 would allow us to hire dedicated technical support and a curator to perform major database updates.
Servers and hardware cost approximately $10,000 per year, and a web programmer approximately $5,000 per month. We currently have no dedicated technical support, meaning major issues could result in prolonged downtime. Additional funding would allow essential updates, improved reliability, and continued dissemination of results at conferences.
The ageing field has grown enormously, but its foundational infrastructure must not disappear.
Donations are made through the University of Birmingham, a registered UK charity. Therefore, donations are tax exempt. Also, the university has agreed not to take on any indirect costs, so all funds received go directly to our lab.
For more details on the Human Ageing Genomic Resources:
https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/52/D1/D900/7337614
https://genomics.senescence.info/
Other resources:
http://www.naked-mole-rat.org/
Any questions or suggestions please contact me (happy to discuss sponsorship and/or recognition for larger donors):
https://rejuvenomicslab.com/contact/
If these databases have supported your research, your company, your grants, or your thinking, we ask you to help sustain them.
Scientific infrastructure often goes unnoticed until it disappears.
Thank you for your support.