David E.Winickoff

Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization

Although it may seem an unlikely place for innovation of global significance, the small island nation of Iceland has assumed near iconic status in one field in particular: genomics. Aided by recent advances in genetic technologies and by a bold entrepreneurial vision, Iceland’s genomic innovations have helped transform medical and genealogical information into a new type of global commodity.

In this article, David E.Winickoff argues that generating the next round of genetic discoveries will require a large number of “health information altruists” to supply health and DNA data and DNA. He cites the Icelandic government’s ability to construct a “national genomic databank,” in collaboration with deCODE Genetics Inc., as an example of the public’s altruism.