Database Commons
Database Commons

a catalog of worldwide biological databases

Database Profile

dbSNP

General information

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp
Full name: Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Database
Description: dbSNP is a free public archive for genetic variation within and across different species developed and hosted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
Year founded: 1999
Last update: 2025-03-15
Version:
Accessibility:
Accessible
Country/Region: United States

Classification & Tag

Data type:
DNA
Data object:
Database category:
Major species:
Keywords:

Contact information

University/Institution: National Center for Biotechnology Information
Address: Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
City: Bethesda
Province/State:
Country/Region: United States
Contact name (PI/Team): dbSNP team
Contact email (PI/Helpdesk): snp-admin@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Publications

39530225
The evolution of dbSNP: 25 years of impact in genomic research. [PMID: 39530225]
Phan L, Zhang H, Wang Q, Villamarin R, Hefferon T, Ramanathan A, Kattman B.

The Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Database (dbSNP), established in 1998 by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), has been a critical resource in genomics for cataloging small genetic variations. Originally focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), dbSNP has since expanded to include a variety of genetic variants, playing a key role in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), population genetics, pharmacogenomics, and cancer research. Over 25 years, dbSNP has grown to include more than 4.4 billion submitted SNPs and 1.1 billion unique reference SNPs, providing essential data for identifying disease-related genetic variants and studying human diversity. Integrating large-scale projects like 1000 Genomes, gnomAD, TOPMed, and ALFA has expanded dbSNP's catalog of human genetic variation, increasing its usefulness for research and clinical applications. Keeping up with advancements such as next-generation sequencing and cloud-based infrastructure, dbSNP remains a cornerstone of genetic research supporting continued discoveries in precision medicine and population genomics. DATABASE URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2025:53(D1) | 39 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)
21154707
Searching NCBI's dbSNP database. [PMID: 21154707]
Bhagwat M.

The Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism database (dbSNP) is a variation database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). It is a public repository of submitted nucleotide variations and is part of NCBI's search and retrieval system Entrez. This unit describes two basic protocols to search dbSNP effectively, one to perform a text-based search and another to perform a sequence-based search. The unit also describes one of the result display formats called GeneView to obtain information about all submitted SNPs in a particular gene.

Curr Protoc Bioinformatics. 2010:Chapter 1() | 48 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)
11125122
dbSNP: the NCBI database of genetic variation. [PMID: 11125122]
Sherry ST, Ward MH, Kholodov M, Baker J, Phan L, Smigielski EM, Sirotkin K.

In response to a need for a general catalog of genome variation to address the large-scale sampling designs required by association studies, gene mapping and evolutionary biology, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has established the dbSNP database [S.T.Sherry, M.Ward and K. Sirotkin (1999) Genome Res., 9, 677-679]. Submissions to dbSNP will be integrated with other sources of information at NCBI such as GenBank, PubMed, LocusLink and the Human Genome Project data. The complete contents of dbSNP are available to the public at website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SNP. The complete contents of dbSNP can also be downloaded in multiple formats via anonymous FTP at ftp://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp/.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2001:29(1) | 5284 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)
10592272
dbSNP: a database of single nucleotide polymorphisms. [PMID: 10592272]
Smigielski EM, Sirotkin K, Ward M, Sherry ST.

In response to a need for a general catalog of genome variation to address the large-scale sampling designs required by association studies, gene mapping and evolutionary biology, the National Cancer for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has established the dbSNP database. Submissions to dbSNP will be integrated with other sources of information at NCBI such as GenBank, PubMed, LocusLink and the Human Genome Project data. The complete contents of dbSNP are available to the public at website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SNP. Submitted SNPs can also be downloaded via anonymous FTP at ftp://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp/

Nucleic Acids Res. 2000:28(1) | 401 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)
10612825
Use of molecular variation in the NCBI dbSNP database. [PMID: 10612825]
Sherry ST, Ward M, Sirotkin K.

While high quality information regarding variation in genes is currently available in locus-specific or specialized mutation databases, the need remains for a general catalog of genome variation to address the large-scale sampling designs required by association studies, gene mapping, and evolutionary biology. In response to this need, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has established the dbSNP database http://ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/SNP/ to serve as a generalized, central variation database. Submissions to dbSNP will be integrated with other sources of information at NCBI such as GenBank, PubMed, LocusLink, and the Human Genome Project data, and the complete contents of dbSNP are available to the public via anonymous FTP. Hum Mutat 15:68-75, 2000. Published 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Hum Mutat. 2000:15(1) | 32 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)
10447503
dbSNP-database for single nucleotide polymorphisms and other classes of minor genetic variation. [PMID: 10447503]
Sherry ST, Ward M, Sirotkin K.
Genome Res. 1999:9(8) | 492 Citations (from Europe PMC, 2025-12-13)

Ranking

All databases:
79/6895 (98.869%)
Genotype phenotype and variation:
15/1005 (98.607%)
79
Total Rank
6,086
Citations
234.077
z-index

Community reviews

Not Rated
Data quality & quantity:
Content organization & presentation
System accessibility & reliability:

Word cloud

Related Databases

Citing
Cited by

Record metadata

Created on: 2015-12-30
Curated by:
Yuhao Zeng [2025-08-22]
Lin Liu [2022-09-05]
Lina Ma [2019-04-19]
Lina Ma [2018-06-07]
Lina Ma [2016-06-03]
Lina Ma [2016-04-13]
Jian Sang [2016-04-04]
Mengwei Li [2016-02-13]
Zhang Zhang [2016-01-14]
Lina Ma [2015-12-30]