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Macrogen to Sequence 80 Genomes for Urugenomes Project

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Institut Pasteur de Montevideo in Uruguay, Seoul National University, and Macrogen have launched the Urugenomes Project. The goal is to discover the genetic basis of different diseases in Uruguay as well as spur genetics research growth in Uruguay.

As part of the project, Macrogen will sequence 80 Uruguayan genomes over the next three years using Illumina's HiSeq X Ten.

"Urugenomes Project is very important to us in many different aspects. The science aspect of studying the Uruguayan genome is very exciting, but we are also extremely thrilled about the educational and cultural aspect of this project," Jeong-Sun Seo, chairman of Macrogen, said in a statement.

The project will include bioinformatics training for Uruguayan scientists at Seoul National University and the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo.

"Development of bioinformatics capability is becoming strategically important not only for academic research but also for disease diagnosis and development of new biotech products in Uruguay," Luis Barbeito, the director of Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, said in a statement.

The results of the project will be used to build a Uruguayan-specific database, which is expected to provide the basis for future personalized medicine in Uruguay.

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