Australia's Coalition government has proposed a new federal budget that includes AUS $500 million (US $372.6 million) for genomic research, the Australian Financial Review reports.
The budget, which plans to both deliver tax cuts to many Australians and lead to a surplus of AUS $2.2 billion ($1.65 billion) by 2020, also includes AUS $1.3 billion ($970 million) over a decade to go toward medical technology and pharmaceutical research, according to the Associated Press. Part of that, the Financial Review says, is earmarked for genomics and personalized medicine research.
It adds that the genomics plan will be funded through the Medical Research Future Fund and will help move bench science to the clinic. The first initiative, it says, will be a $20 million trial of pre-conception screening for rare birth disorders. Those conditions, 9News adds, will include cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and fragile X syndrome.