Media Releases

Media Coverage: New study uncovers genetic risks of getting disease among different (cont)

21 February 2023

PRECISE announces two multi-institutional studies of 10,000 Singaporeans, identifying genetic variations in ethnic Chinese, Malay, and Indian individuals, with the aim of developing tailor-made screening panels and better genetic tests for the Asian population.

This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.

Media Coverage: New study uncovers genetic risks of getting disease among different ethnicities in Singapore

Our programme, Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE) (opens in new tab), has conducted two multi-institutional studies of approximately 10,000 Singaporeans, identifying genetic variations in ethnic Chinese, Malay, and Indian individuals that predispose them to highly prevalent conditions and adverse responses to widely used drugs.

These studies, which have been published in the scientific journals Nature Genetics and Nature Communications, are part of Singapore's National Precision Medicine programme which aims to harness precision medicine and genomic analyses to improve the health of Singaporeans.

As many of the factors identified in these studies are under-represented in Western population studies, they represent a unique resource for the Singaporean biomedical community. The studies will also help to develop tailor-made screening panels for the Asian population and provide better genetic tests, reducing the risk of misdiagnosis or mistreatment by healthcare professionals less familiar with managing genetic disorders and associated symptoms found in non-European populations.