The Kingdom of Bahrain, through its Ministry of Health, has become the first country in the Middle East to acquire and inaugurate the use of the cutting-edge NovaSeqTM X Plus system for human genome sequencing. This decision is part of the Kingdom’s commitment to continue to develop therapeutic and diagnostic services in line with the latest global medical advances, for the benefit of everyone’s health.
Chairman of the Supreme Health Council, Lt General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, highlighted ongoing efforts under the National Genome Project, which aims to use gene sequencing to adopt national health policies. effective health and therapeutic and preventive management plans.
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For her part, the Minister of Health, Dr. Jaleela bint Al-Sayed Jawad Hassan noted that the acquisition of this device is in line with the continuous efforts to keep abreast of the latest technological trends in the field of health , while further developing the National Genome Center, which will have a positive impact on the various diagnostic and therapeutic services in place for the benefit of the community.
It is in this context that Dr. Gregory Essert, Managing Director of Emerging Markets at Illumina, said: “With our latest specialized genome sequencing device, the NovaSeqTM X Plus system, we can generate more than 20,000 genomes whole per year – or 2.5 times our previous capacity. We look forward to contributing to the goal of the National Genome Center in the Kingdom of Bahrain by using technology to better understand diseases and potential genetic risks, thereby developing healthcare plans. “
Similarly, Mr. Abdelrahman Ramadan, the Managing Director of Zahrawi Group, which is the local representative of Illumina in Bahrain, emphasized: “We believe that the Bahrain National Genome Project, together with the vision and mission of Zahrawi Group, symbolizes an important step towards excellence in genomics research, fostering trust and making significant contributions to the well-being of people in the GCC region and beyond.”
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It is worth mentioning that the National Genome Project was launched in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2019 and awareness campaigns were launched by public health institutions to encourage community participation in the program, with a collection target of 50 000 samples by 2024.
A national delegation of specialists from the National Genome Center was sent to Harvard University in the United States for specialized training, including the latest genome sequencing methods, classification of biological data , clinical analysis, scientific data analysis and genetic data management.