Decode Genetics

Headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, deCODE is a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome. Using their unique expertise and population resources, deCODE has discovered key genetic risk factors for dozens of common diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer. deCODE genetics is a subsidiary of Amgen.

deCODE leads the world in the discovery of genetic risk factors for common diseases. Their gene discovery engine is driven by their unique approach and resources, including detailed genetic and medical information on some 500,000 individuals from around the globe taking part in their discovery work and proprietary statistical algorithms and informatics tools for gathering, analyzing, visualizing and storing large amounts of data.

Finding genetic risk factors for disease requires the ability to correlate two large sets of data: on variations in the sequence of the genome on the one hand, and on variations in phenotype or condition, such as a disease or some physical trait, on the other. Their advantage arises from the complexity of the challenge. The common diseases – such as heart attack, asthma, stroke and cancer – arise from the interplay of multiple genetic and environmental and lifestyle factors. Moreover, their ability to genotype, or read specific ‘letters’ in the genome, is constantly and rapidly increasing. Sequencing entire human genomes enables a detailed understanding of the rare as well as common variations that impact disease. deCODE is well positioned to lead the way in generating and analyzing whole sequence data for large scale studies.