VinTech to invest US$4.5 million in decoding Vietnamese genome

Vũ Hà Văn. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HCM CITY — Vintech – an affiliate of Việt Nam’s leading conglomerate Vingroup – last week announced a US$4.5-million project on researching the Vietnamese genome.

The project will be carried out by the company’s Big Data Research Institute and is said to be the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia so far.

The project will start next year and run for five years.

In the first three years, scientists will collect gene samples and decode genomes of 1,000 people to generate mass data for local and foreign researchers.

The data will help map variants to the human genome, which are expected to be used in studies on genetic diseases and to research why individuals respond differently to medicines.

Director of Big Data Research Institute Vũ Hà Văn said that the project was expected to make great contributions to Việt Nam’s genetic studies and other disciplines, including medicine, pharmacy, biotechnology and anthropology.

“Genetic studies pave the way to early warning, detection and timely treatment to some diseases as well as help develop treatment methods suitable for each individual,” he said. — VNS