Dr Bassam Ali, Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics at UAE University, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Department of Pathology said, “According to a study carried out by March of Dimes, a US-based health charity and research organisation in 2006, nearly eight per cent of children born in the country suffer from general or cognitive handicaps due to genetic deformity.”

He also said that according to research, the UAE ranked sixth out of 193 countries in the number of genetic birth defects.

“Genetic disorders are the fourth major cause of death in the UAE with 270 diseases reported among different families,” explained Dr Ali, who is working on a Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research-sponsored research project titled ‘Identification of Genes for Human Cognition’.

Arab families in the UAE are affected by several types of genetic disorders, including the rare Job syndrome (immuno-deficiency disorder in autosomal dominant inheritance pattern) and the most common disease thalassaemia, said Dr Ali.

He also said the burden of genetic disease was great in the Arab world, while research was expensive.

“It is important to train young Arab scientists in state-of-the-art technologies in science,” he added.