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Personal DNA testing to diagnose and cure disease – often touted as the future of medicine – was dealt a blow yesterday as the company that pioneered the technique filed for bankruptcy.
DeCODE Genetics, based in Reykjavik, Iceland, fell victim to the global credit crunch and the collapse of Iceland's financial system as it struggled to compete against rival personal genetic-testing services.
The collapse of the firm, which was one of the first in the world to offer DNA testing for disease risk, was described by the pressure group Genewatch UK as "not just the collapse of a company, [but] the collapse of an idea".
However, although DeCODE Genetics was brilliant at making new scientific discoveries – published in a series of papers in Nature magazine – it never found a way of profiting from them.
It invested heavily in research which revealed hundreds of DNA variations linked to common conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But translating these into an individual risk proved harder.
Most diseases are influenced by dozens, if not hundreds, of genes and those...
DeCODE Genetics, based in Reykjavik, Iceland, fell victim to the global credit crunch and the collapse of Iceland's financial system as it struggled to compete against rival personal genetic-testing services.
The collapse of the firm, which was one of the first in the world to offer DNA testing for disease risk, was described by the pressure group Genewatch UK as "not just the collapse of a company, [but] the collapse of an idea".
However, although DeCODE Genetics was brilliant at making new scientific discoveries – published in a series of papers in Nature magazine – it never found a way of profiting from them.
It invested heavily in research which revealed hundreds of DNA variations linked to common conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But translating these into an individual risk proved harder.
Most diseases are influenced by dozens, if not hundreds, of genes and those...