Biotech firm buys rights to Tonga's gene pool Company acquires rights to country's gene pool
By Kathy Marks
23 November 2000
The 108,000 residents of Tonga in the South Pacific are to be the subject of unique scrutiny after an Australian biotechnology company acquired exclusive rights to the country's gene pool yesterday.
The company believes the island's isolated gene pool may offer clues to the cause of breast cancer, kidney disease, diabetes and stomach ulcers. Autogen Ltd said it had signed an agreement with the Polynesian kingdom to set up a database of Tongan DNA to search for the genes that cause these and other diseases.
Joseph Gutnick, chairman of Autogen, said the isolation of the island and the rigid family structure of its population offered researchers a rare chance. He said: "It is a closed community where you can trace the lineage and genealogy of the families, so therefore you can easily observe from generation to generation and from brothers and sisters and families if there is a prevalent gene that causes a particular disease."
A portion of the royalties from the sale of any drug manufactured because of research findings will be given to Tonga.