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UAE: New centre to study genetic makeup of Emiratis

Abu Dhabi - The programme aims to contribute to enhanced healthcare and healthier communities.

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A new facility that will become home to a series of groundbreaking projects, including the Emirati Genome Program, was officially inaugurated in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Located in Masdar, G42 Healthcare’s Omics Centre of Excellence is the region’s largest and most technologically advanced omics facility.

Omics is an informal term used to refer to the various branches of biological sciences whose names end in the suffix -omics. These include genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and glycomics.

The Emirati Genome Program — which will generate data on the genetic makeup of Emiratis — aims to contribute to enhanced healthcare and healthier communities.

Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, was the first participant to donate a blood sample to the program.

He said, “We welcome initiatives such as G42 Healthcare’s Omics Centre of Excellence, which result in positive outcomes for the local community while elevating the healthcare sector’s ecosystem and available infrastructure. By employing the most innovative technologies to date, and with a strong Emirati representation in the centre as well as throughout the company’s other initiatives, this groundbreaking facility will lay the foundation of a healthier future for all in the UAE.”

One of the world’s most ambitious genomics programs, the Emirati Genome Program is an extension of the Population Genome Program, which was launched earlier in its pilot phase to create reference Emirati genome.

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi