Why Syndicate Bio Wants To Decode African DNA To Fight Most Cancers

Africa makes up decrease than 3% of worldwide genome sequencing, a laboratory course of to search out out your full genetic make-up of a specific organism or cell type. This gap hinders evaluation and efforts to cope with conditions additional frequent on the continent, along with cancers, cardiovascular and sickle cell sickness. “For too prolonged, the absence of regionally derived genomic data has restricted how we forestall, diagnose, and cope with sickness,” says Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, founding father of Syndicate Bio, a genomics agency.

The scarcity of African genomic data is pushed largely by historic worth and complexity.  In 2001, sequencing the human genome took 13 years and worth about $2.7 billion. Whereas that worth has fallen to about $200 in 2024, the know-how remained a evaluation commodity on the continent, moderately than a tool for affected particular person care. The sequencing functionality on the continent was usually for microbes, not large-scale human sequencing that Syndicate Bio is attempting to realize.

Syndicate Bio is a nicely being innovation agency centered on advancing genomics and precision medicine all through the continent and previous. The company was launched in September 2023 by Abasi Ene-Obong after he stepped down as CEO from 54gene, a genomics startup he cofounded, in October 2022.

Syndicate Bio makes use of collaboration with governments, pharma companies, academia, and completely different stakeholders to drive native precision medicine affect whereas creating extremely efficient datasets that may be utilized for drug discovery, evaluation, and development.

Syndicate Bio’s newly launched sequencing laboratory positions itself as Nigeria’s frontline for AI-enabled precision medicine. At its core is Direct by Syndicate Bio, a genetic testing and precision medicine service designed to ship actionable insights to victims and suppliers all through Africa.

Direct is constructed on Nigeria’s genetic vary, which impacts all of the items from how an individual metabolises frequent medication to their risk of hereditary cancers. Until now, most genetic testing linked to African victims was shipped abroad, far far from day-to-day healthcare. Direct by Syndicate Bio must fluctuate that. 

Difficult testing that was beforehand inaccessible to frequently victims is now accessible in-country. This service takes samples like blood, tissue, or saliva collected by means of a neighborhood of companion labs all through Nigeria, and analyses them to provide medical experiences with actionable insights.

To ensure these superior genetic insights are efficiently built-in into affected particular person care, Syndicate Bio established the Direct Nigeria Precision Medicine Neighborhood (DNPMN), a neighborhood of native hospitals, most cancers services, and worldwide companions. This neighborhood will collaborate on superior most cancers cases, current second opinions, commerce information, and assure victims entry to personalised prevention and intervention strategies. Key companions embrace Roswell Park Full Most cancers Centre (USA), Lakeshore Most cancers Centre, and Redus Centre for Digestive Properly being. 

“This collaboration shows our shared dedication to creating precision medicine accessible to underserved populations all through Africa,” says Dr Sai Yendamuri, Chief Method Officer, Roswell Park Full Most cancers Centre. “By combining our expertise in genomic testing with tutorial initiatives in oncology and most cancers consciousness, we are able to help empower clinicians and communities with the devices they need to improve outcomes.”

The promise of latest tech

Direct launches with a centered suite of genetic checks designed to cope with urgent healthcare needs by offering Nigerians insights into their very personal distinctive biology.

One principal focus of Direct’s suppliers is oncology, a division of medicine that specialises throughout the evaluation and treatment of most cancers. As of 2022, Nigeria has registered over 260,000 new most cancers cases in a country with solely 27 most cancers treatment centres. The fight in opposition to most cancers is now being equipped with Direct’s new genetic devices. For households who’ve seen most cancers appear all through generations, a hereditary most cancers check out can decide risks written into their genes. Syndicate Bio’s lab is supplied with machines that will analyse over 300 genes linked to breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and colorectal cancers. These hereditary checks may additionally reveal as a lot as 90 inherited points all through cardiovascular, metabolic, neurodevelopmental, ophthalmological, immune system, and blood-related lessons.

For victims already battling most cancers, the lab gives tumor profiling that analyses probably the most cancers itself. This allows the victims and medical docs to know the exact driver of that almost all cancers so therapies could also be targeted additional precisely. 

“In Nigeria, we’ve most likely not been treating cancers from an actionable perspective, on account of we’ve not had the devices,” Dr Ene-Obong says. “ Nevertheless with this now, we’ll be able to know exactly what’s driving that almost all cancers. We’ll then be able to usher in the most effective medication for this express most cancers.”

One in every of many checks Direct gives, pharmacogenomics, reveals how a person’s physique reacts to frequent medication. This can make clear why a normal painkiller could not work for a person nevertheless works fully for an additional particular person. For extreme conditions that can comprise cardiovascular or autoimmune medicine, determining which medication are environment friendly in your physique might make a distinction in life-saving treatment.

Direct moreover gives nicely being and wellness testing, screens for population-relevant traits like sickle cell illnesses and thalassemia, and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) that allows a pregnant girl to check the nicely being of her foetus and detect conditions like Down Syndrome, Turner syndrome, amongst others, with out the risks of invasive sampling.

How the tech works: The journey of a sample

Victims can entry and choose the checks on-line. This may increasingly trigger them to one in all Syndicate Bio’s companion labs all through 20 cities in Nigeria, the place their sample could be collected. As quickly because the sample will get contained within the Lagos laboratory, an advanced automation course of is used to extract the genetic supplies from it. After a top quality check confirms the extracted supplies is concentrated ample, the sample is tagged with a singular barcode that ensures the data could also be traced once more to the fitting affected particular person after sequencing. 

The samples are loaded into one in every of many lab’s sequencers, which can generate as a lot as 100 gigabytes of raw data from a single sample. This raw data is distributed to a cloud storage the place artificial intelligence can analyse it to look out the genetic insights requested by the affected particular person. The findings are compiled proper right into a medical report with insights, shared with the affected particular person and the physician. To ensure the data is thought and used efficiently, direct offers a genetic counselor to translate the science into life-saving picks.

Africa has additional genetic vary than another continent. With out native data, the continent has been attempting to unravel distinctive nicely being challenges with devices and insights developed for various populations. Direct by Syndicate Bio is betting on closing that gap with data. 

Dr Ene-Obong says this data can inform protection, providing proof wished for governments to approve and import targeted medication best fitted to their residents. Lastly, what’s at stake is Africa’s operate in the best way ahead for world medicine. As additional data is generated, it feeds into the worldwide understanding of nicely being, forcing researchers to find out with the genetic realities of Africa.

The company plans to develop its suppliers to include kinship testing for forensics and paternity cases, digital pathology, and new little one screening. The long-term goal is to utilize the massive genetic data to convey a model new layer of data-driven intelligence to the apply of medicine. 

As Ene-Obong locations it: “With Direct, Syndicate Bio is harnessing Nigeria’s rich genetic vary to generate insights that improve maintain Nigerians and the diaspora—whereas advancing inclusive precision medicine globally.”

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