By scrutinising genes and dissecting biological processes at the molecular level, doctors and researchers can pinpoint the underlying causes of cancer and chronic ailments, and identify new ways to prevent or slow down disease progression.
This would help to pave the way for new drugs, faster diagnostics and targeted treatments through precision medicine, said Professor Patrick Tan, executive director of Precision Health Research, Singapore (Precise), the entity that will helm the population study.
Over the next three years, the whole genomes of 100,000 healthy Singaporeans the ages of 30 and 84 - will be sequenced and analysed to create one of Singapore's largest research data sets.
Malay and Indian participants will comprise 40 per cent of the 100,000, and the rest will be Chinese.
The project, called SG100K, will end up as one of Asia's leading reference genome databases since Singapore's ethnic diversity captures more than 80 per cent of Asia's diversity.
Yesterday, Precise and genomics technology leader Illumina inked a partnership agreement to kickstart the SG100K effort.
This story is from the May 27, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the May 27, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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