Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet are planning an international initiative to map out the relationships between health, genes and lifestyle. Discussion partners include world-leading researchers from the USA, Britain, Singapore and Norway.
The project has the working title “LifeGene”. If realised, it could be classed as one of the largest and most comprehensive medical projects since HUGO, the mapping of the human genome. The goal of “LifeGene” is to combine advances in modern biotechnology with information on people’s lifestyles. The infrastructure being established will provide new data about the causes of disease and their prevention, as well as refined diagnostic methods and therapeutic opportunities.
It is hoped that “LifeGene” will form a knowledge bank with a public health perspective, providing researchers, public authorities and decision makers with the data and facts they need. The focus will be on diseases affecting the elderly, such as cancer and heart disease, and diseases amongst the younger generation, which are a drain on the general economy as well as on the individual’s well-being. This includes infections, asthma, allergies and obesity. By combining a biological perspective with web based lifestyle information, “LifeGene” will open up new possibilities for a greater understanding of the interplay between heredity, lifestyle and the environment as regards our most common diseases. In the wake of the HUGO project, we now have an opportunity to develop completely new tools for prevention and early diagnosis.