Oxford Nanopore chosen to help better understand genetics in Singapore's population
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford Nanopore) has unveiled a landmark project with Singapore's National Precision Medicine (NPM) programme, led by Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE) to help better understand the genetics of Singapore’s multi-ethnic Asia population.
The company will sequence 10,000 genomes in a bid to develop a catalogue to represent the three major ethnic groups in Singapore including Chinese, Malay and Indian.
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The project began in mid-2024 and is expected to run for around 12 months.
"We are excited to collaborate with Singapore's National Precision Medicine (NPM) programme to create one of the most extensive and inclusive reference genome datasets globally," said Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore in a stock market statement.
"This collaboration not only enhances our commitment to precision healthcare but also strategically positions Singapore as a pivotal hub for genomics in the Asia Pacific, fostering significant advancements in medical research and healthcare outcomes."
The company's platform was selected by the NPM programme after a competitive process because of its scalability and flexibility in sequencing both short and ultra-long DNA/RNA fragments, including detection of methylation, without the need for additional steps and at speeds faster than other platforms.
Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of sensing technology used for real-time, high-performance, accessible, and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA.
The technology is used in more than 120 countries, to understand the biology of humans, plants, animals, bacteria, and to understand diseases such as cancer
Last week, the company announced a strategic investment of up to £60 million from Novo Holdings - one of the world's top life sciences investors - which says the former's platform is being evaluated by top Biopharma manufacturing companies.
