The era of precision medicine could be moving nearer in the Middle East after a centre that offers training in genetic testing was officially opened.
Illumina, a Californian-based biotechnology company, has inaugurated its Illumina Solutions Centre in Dubai at a time when the healthcare sector globally is increasingly focusing on precision or personalised medicine.
This cutting-edge field involves analysing an individual’s genetic characteristics to inform decisions about the most suitable treatment.
"The UAE is a hub for us in the region," Susan Tousi, Illumina’s chief commercial officer, said.
We understand less than one per cent of genetic variation related to disease. There’s so much more to be discovered through research
Susan Tousi, Illumina
"We’ve done this in a number of other locations ― we’ve opened centres in Brazil for Latin America, South Korea, outside Paris and Berlin. For us, Dubai is a really exciting opportunity."
The Illumina Solutions Centre is equipped with genetic testing equipment and offers training in diagnostic tests, such as non-invasive prenatal screening or genomic tests for cancer. The techniques that the centre offers training in are also relevant to conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and neurological disorders.
"It will be a hub where we can bring people together to not only get more familiar with the technology, but understand its impact … on improving healthcare outcomes," Ms Tousi said.
"We expect to be working with customers running small labs, with ministries of health and government customers, customers in the research space. We expect we’ll be working with hospitals in the area."
Better understanding of diseases
From left: Dr Marwan Al Mulla, chief executive, Health Sector Regulation at Dubai Health Authority, Dr Abdulla Al Khayat, chief executive Al Jalila Children’s Hospital, Susan Tousi, chief commercial officer, Illumina, Sean Murphy, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires, Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology, Tariq Al Hashmi, Head of Technology Adoption, Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director for Research and Innovation, Department of Health Abu Dhabi at the official opening of Illumina centre in Dubai. Photo: Illumina
What makes the centre in Dubai particularly significant, she indicated, is that many technologies associated with precision medicine have often tended to be most widely available to populations of European descent.
Among the reasons for this is that in Europe and North America greater amounts of research funding has been available, and people from ethnic minorities have tended to be poorly represented in studies.
Yet such genetic testing and diagnostics are particularly important in the Middle East because some conditions with a genetic basis tend to be more prevalent.
Ms Tousi said the imbalance between populations across the world in how well their genetic susceptibility to disease was understood was "an issue that’s of great importance" to Illumina.
"We’re really excited to boost the … representation of the Middle Eastern genome and provide better diagnostics and much better therapies for the region," she said.
Having more data from Middle Eastern populations will lead to "much better healthcare outcomes" as well as improved drug development and therapies for disease specific to populations in the region.
The work of the centre could kick-start research projects that improve the understanding of the genetic basis of disease in Middle Eastern populations.
"We do hope this inspires large-scale research projects that give us the knowledge of what’s the genetic variation in the population," Ms Tousi said.
Precise Middle East studies
Dr Marc Haber of the Dubai campus of the University of Birmingham. Photo Marc Haber.
Scientists in the UAE say that greater investment in genetic studies specific to Middle Eastern populations will help to redress the deficit in knowledge.
Dr Marc Haber, of the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the Dubai International Academic City campus of the University of Birmingham, said until now populations from the region had been studied "very little".
Sometimes large numbers of genes may influence an individual’s susceptibility to a particular medical condition and the mutations or genetic variants at play may differ between ethnic groups.
"If you don’t sequence these populations, you will never find those mutations specific to these populations," he said.
"You would find one that are shared [between ethnic groups], but the specific ones, you would be blind to them.
"This is very important, because complex diseases are not just [caused by] one mutation. You have thousands of mutations contributing to the specific disease."
He said the opening of the centre was "a good move from Illumina", which he described as "the largest player" in the market.
"The result of this is we’re going to have more people interested in sequencing and these people will be able to work in the research labs," he said.
"These research labs will be able to replicate what’s been done in Europe and [elsewhere] outside the Middle East. It’s a move in the right direction but it’s the first step."
Ms Tousi said science was "still at the very, very beginning" of understanding the role that genes play in the development of many illnesses.
"We understand less than one per cent of genetic variation related to disease," she said. "There’s so much more to be discovered through research."
The technologies the new centre will train people in apply not just to medicine. They may be useful, Ms Tousi said, for fields including agriculture, for example by assisting efforts to develop more drought-tolerant varieties of plants, which are of particular importance in the Middle East.
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
FIXTURES
Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy
Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa
Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand
Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
