China launches first biobank
www.chinaview.cn 2004-03-10 19:53:01
GUANGZHOU, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- China recently launched its first biobank, a database with information on people's medical history, lifestyle, occupation and blood sample for DNA analysis in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.
The program, jointly funded by the Guangzhou No. 12 People's Hospital, the University of Hong Kong and the UK-based University of Birmingham, aims to create profiles for 50,000 Guangzhou peopleaged above 50 in four to five years, Wednesday's Beijing Youth Daily reported.
"By tracing their information for a few years, we hope to investigate and determine genetic factors that caused some fatal diseases, such as malignant tumors, coronary heart disease and diabetes," said Jiang Chaoqiang, hospital director and also one ofthe three leading project managers.
Information collection on the first 10,000 elderly people is scheduled to be finished by September, according to the hospital.
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