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07-31-2001, 02:50 PM
Future Tech
Britain's Big Biotech Bang
Matthew Herper, Forbes.com, 07.31.01, 2:45 PM ET
NEW YORK - For 18 months, Britain has been building the world's largest gene database. Scientists will recruit half a million middle-aged volunteers at a cost of more than $60 million over the next two or three years. Within a decade, scientists say, this storehouse could lead to a better understanding of how genes affect not only diseases, but also the medicines that treat them.
Genetic databases have been around for years, forming the foundation of biotechs like Salt Lake City's Myriad (nasdaq: MYGN - news - people) and Iceland's DeCode (nyse: DCGN - news - people). But the British version will be bigger, more diverse and will include more data about environment and lifestyle--without any close links to business, according to Thomas W. Meade, who is building the database for Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC). It will also represent a 180-degree change in the way such databases are assembled.
Britain's Big Biotech Bang
Matthew Herper, Forbes.com, 07.31.01, 2:45 PM ET
NEW YORK - For 18 months, Britain has been building the world's largest gene database. Scientists will recruit half a million middle-aged volunteers at a cost of more than $60 million over the next two or three years. Within a decade, scientists say, this storehouse could lead to a better understanding of how genes affect not only diseases, but also the medicines that treat them.
Genetic databases have been around for years, forming the foundation of biotechs like Salt Lake City's Myriad (nasdaq: MYGN - news - people) and Iceland's DeCode (nyse: DCGN - news - people). But the British version will be bigger, more diverse and will include more data about environment and lifestyle--without any close links to business, according to Thomas W. Meade, who is building the database for Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC). It will also represent a 180-degree change in the way such databases are assembled.