DeCode Genetics, a pioneering company that used the Icelandic population and the country's excellent genealogy records as its guinea pigs in detecting disease-causing mutations, filed for bankruptcy today.
I have mentioned DeCode Genetics many times in past newsletters (see http://www.google.com/cse?cx=003715150024579880844%3Aulyzue1ivzu&ie=UTF-8&q=%22DeCode+Genetics%22&sa=Search).
I have mentioned DeCode Genetics many times in past newsletters (see http://www.google.com/cse?cx=003715150024579880844%3Aulyzue1ivzu&ie=UTF-8&q=%22DeCode+Genetics%22&sa=Search).
Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, DeCode Genetics was founded in 1996 by Dr. Kari Stefansson, a research neurologist who worked at the University of Chicago and at Harvard. After the human genome sequence was achieved in 2003, Dr. Stefansson quickly realized that Iceland’s excellent medical records, combined with the genealogical information available on its close-knit population, provided a fine test bed for seeking the roots of genetically complex diseases like cancer, diabetes and schizophrenia.
You can read more in the New York Times' coverage of the bankruptcy at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18gene.html.
