Interested in the research behind our scans?

Browse through the publications and recorded discoveries from deCODE that have appeared in highly regarded journals around the world.

Publications by deCODE scientists in 1998

• Gulcher J, Stefansson K. Population genomics: laying the groundwork for genetic disease modeling and targeting. In Clin Chem Lab Med (36(8):523-7). 1998.
  read abstract

  The family has proven the most appropriate unit with which to study Mendeliandiseases. There are, however, certain limitations on the use of the family as afundamental unit in the study of common diseases, most of which are complexgenetic diseases. The groups that are most likely to yield the genetics ofcomplex diseases are isolated populations with strong founder effects.Therefore, access to such populations is proving to be a precious resource inthe work on the genetics of common diseases. The Icelandic population is anexcellent population for the study of the genetics of common diseases; it isgenetically homogeneous, with founder effects for many traits, and the genealogyof the entire nation is well documented back to the founding days. Furthermore,the nature of the Icelandic national health care system facilitates theassignment of phenotypes in the search for disease genes. Decode Genetics hasbegun to study of the genetics of 20 of the most common diseases in the Westernparts of the world. The company has placed the groundwork for the constructionof an encrypted database with information on the health care of the entirenation, genealogy of the entire nation, genotyping information with high densityof markers on a large part of the nation (including typing for known diseasegenes), and resource use in the Icelandic health care system. The plan is tobuild the database with approval of participating individuals as well asIcelandic government and health care officials. The database will be used tomodel health care as viewed in the context of genetic predisposition to thedevelopment of disease. The database will also be used in the search for drugtargets in complex diseases and in the solution of pharmacogenomic problems.Basing the company in Iceland directly benefits the population in terms ofemployment and return on investment as well as providing the health care systemwith an information resource which may be used in preventive medicine and in theoptimization of health care in Iceland.