Countrys genome for sale

last updated 8 January 2015

Tallinn, Estonia

Estonia has sold the commercial rights to data on its citizens’ DNA to a Silicon Valley startup called EGeen International. The Estonian government is encouraging all citizens to donate gene samples at the doctor’s office. Kalev Kask, CEO of EGeen, said Estonian DNA would be particularly useful in determining the genetic component of complicated conditions, such as high blood pressure. Estonia “has had a pretty tough history,” Kask told Salon.com. “It’s been invaded over and over throughout the past thousands of years, so a typical Estonian is sort of representative of all Europeans.”