The participation of Armed Forces in the First Genome Day in Celebration of Two Years Since the Launch of the Genome Project
As part of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi the President of the Republic of Egypt the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces to implement the Egyptian Reference Genome Project announced in March 2021. The Armed Forces participated in the medical conference First Genome Day as a celebration for launching the genome project for two years in cooperation with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) and the corporate sponsorship of Illumina.
The conference began with a speech by Major General Dr. Khaled Amer chief executive officer of the Egypt Center for Research and Regenerative Medicine ECRRM alongside the Egyptian Armed Forces conveying the greetings and appreciation of General Mohamed Zaki the commander for the Egyptian Armed Forces and Ministry of Defense and Military Production and Lieutenant General Osama Askar the president of Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces to the audience confirming that the Egypt Genome Project Is the most prominent scientific project to take place in the history of Modern Egypt and will be the foundation of personalized and precision medicine and the pillar of all medical research during the next upcoming years.
Sir Magdy Yacoub the international cardiac surgeon also indicated that the implementation of the genome project is a huge scientific breakthrough and that the project is a beacon for all researchers interested in genome research and provides an opportunity to study samples inside Egypt.
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Awad Taj El-Din Advisor to the President of the Republic of Health and Prevention Affairs delivered a speech in which he indicated that the Genome Project aims to draw a reference genetic map for Egyptians to treat various diseases and identify genetic factors affecting the response to the causes of epidemics. It also aims to study the reference genome of ancient Egyptians and their genes related to some common diseases in Egypt such as cardiac neoplastic and hereditary diseases.
The conference was attended by Major General Dr. Eid Al-Taweel Advisor to the Minister of Defense for Medical Education and Prosthetic Devices a number of commanders of the armed forces and a number of university professors in various medical institutions.