A database of genomic data of one hundred thousand Russians will be created in the Russian Federation. According to Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, the company’s employees will be the first voluntary participants in the research.
On Wednesday, November 17, Sechin spoke at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of genetic technologies in the country.
“At the first stage, the main outcome will be the creation of a database for 100,000 full-genome sequences of Russians, which will be stored on Russia-based servers. To do this, a large-scale voluntary population study will be conducted. We will start with our own employees, which will allow us to determine the reference genomes for different peoples of Russia,” Sechin said.
In addition, scientists will have to analyze 30,000 samples taken from patients with specific diseases, in order to determine genetic markers that affect the health of newborns, children, adults, and seniors. It will also contribute to the development of criteria for an objective assessment of biological age and will help researchers find new genetic and epigenetic causes of various diseases.
The participants of the study will be volunteers; it will be held in National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after Academician V.I.Kulakov, Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, and the Russian Clinical and Research Center of Gerontology.
