National
e-Science
Centre
Dr Kari Stefansson Public Talk
e-Science Institute 7th October 03
In the third of the Edinburgh Centre for Bioinformatics lectures, Kari Stefansson, co-founder and
CEO of Decode Genetics in Iceland, spoke to a packed audience about the data with which his
company works and some of the recent results of their investigations. He described the nature
and quality of the genealogical records held by Decode (including his own ancestry, traced to the
10th century AD). These data allow genes to be tracked through many generations and linked to
disease occurrence. Dr Stefansson's examples included evidence that genetic predisposition to
one type of cancer could be linked to other types as well - a result that has significant implications
for screening and prevention programmes.
Dr Anne Payne
College of Science & Engineering
University of Edinburgh