Abu Dhabi’s push on genomic sequencing isn’t just about healthcare — it’s about AI too, Bloomberg reports, spotlighting the Emirate Genome Program and efforts to industrialize genomics at state scale, a key pillar of its economic diversification drive away from oil, along with its AI ambitions.

While commercial payoffs remain speculative, the Emirates has a clear vision of leading the global biotech scene, and aims to use the genomic data to generate an income through developing meds — though no country has managed to do so yet.

Where it’s at: The six-year program holds more than 750k Emirati samples and is the world’s largest genomic database. The UAE is now sequencing newborn Emiratis at birth and actively expanding to include its over 9 mn non-citizen population. A new biobank — 10x larger — is also coming this year, and Abu Dhabi already holds 3.5 bn clinical records for 12.7 mn patient profiles. Meanwhile, G42 is already working with Indonesia and Uzbekistan on similar national projects, and sees developing such data banks as interlinked with AI offerings.

Sticking points remain around privacy and access to the wealth of hyper-personal health datasets, along with concerns over how it will be used. Similar worries have derailed other comparable projects in the past, but so far in the UAE, participation is voluntary except for mandatory premarital screening.

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