Vietnam to build largest gene decoding centre in SEA

The centre aims to cut gene decoding waiting time in the region to under 30 days.

Vietnam's National Innovation Center (NIC) signed an agreement with Genetica to establish the largest gene decoding centre in Southeast Asia on 7 October.

The new gene decoding centre in Vietnam is capable of decoding up to 500,000 gene packs per year, attaining the same standards as its counterparts in the US, while observing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to obtain the most precise result possible.  This helps to reduce both experiment cost and waiting time to under 30 days in order to satisfy the gene testing demands, not only in Vietnam but in the Southeast Asian region as well.

The centre also serves research for the implementation of gene decoding in healthcare via close collaboration with major national and international medical institutes like Harvard Medical School, Hue Central Hospital, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Tam Duc Hospital, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, hoping to make useful discoveries for genetic diseases and formulate a treatment plan using gene therapy.

NIC director Vu Quoc Huy highly appreciated the creation of a large-scale gene decoding centre in Vietnam to answer the request of the Planning and Investment Ministry to promote the growth of innovative startup ecosystems and the launch of research and development activities in the scientific community.

The centre will enter its first operation stage in Q4 2021.