Decease… Death… Die…

The progress of person’s genetics is opening new possibilities for more individual approach to the supporting of health and to preventive measures and treatment of illnesses.

Genetic and genomic researches together with the results of the project about the research of the human genome gave the new evidence about the deposit of hereditary predisposition to the risk of the illnesses’ development. There were discovered several gene locuses and genes which are correlated with the development of such illnesses like osteoarthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and other. These and other data will give strong possibilities for the modern assessment of the individual risk of development of these illnesses and allow to conduct more individual preventive measures and illnesses’ treatment.

Theoretically, the factors of the predisposition to the certain illnesses must be detected as soon as it is possible. For example, well-known risk factors of myocardial infarction conclude hypercholesterinomia, arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Biomedical researches of the gene factors of the risk will give the possibility of the early detection of the predisposition to certain illnesses before real illness’ development. Due to this there can be taken some preventive measures, for example, conversion to more healthy diet or taking vitamins and microelements.

The earlier the predisposition to the illness is determined, the higher the chance for preventive measures.

In 1998 the parliament of Island made a decision about the creation of the universal data base about all country’s population which concludes the medical information, the data about the person’s genealogy and also the genetic information. In 2000 Iceland Company “decode Genetics” has won the competition for the right to be the main executive of the given project. In exchange the company got the exclusive right for 12 years for the commercial usage of the genetic information which will be received from the research samples of the blood practically of all Icelanders. With this the company not only covers all the costs for the creation of this data base but also is under an obligation to pay yearly to the Island government 70 millions of Island kronas plus 6% from the commercial profit from the usage of the genetic information. For example, again discovered genes which are predisposing to the development of this or other illness, they will be patented. Such kind of the patent is a very interesting product for the pharmaceutical companies which are developing the medications of the new generation.

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