Israeli Development to Identify Cancer and Genetic Disease Risks

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new online tool that will allow any doctor to identify their patients' genetic mutations, assess their risk for various hereditary diseases and cancers, and tailor the best possible drug treatment for the patient.

The new software identifies, based on the patient's genetic mapping, whether the genes are related to mutations in other genes that cause different diseases. This way, doctors can easily check which diseases a gene carrier might develop.

"This is a quick, cost-free method without unnecessary time waste, allowing for rapid detection of disease-causing genes," said Dr. Yuval Tabach, a researcher at the Israel-Canada Medical Research Institute at the Hebrew University, responsible for the development done in collaboration with Harvard University.

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Currently, the process to identify the link between a defective gene and the diseases it might cause is long and complicated. This is why medicine usually focuses on treating the disease rather than its genetic identification, which could recur in other family members without prior anticipation and preventive medication.

According to the researchers, the system offers additional benefits, such as finding existing drug treatments that can help combat other diseases beyond those they were initially meant to cure. "We could discover this by finding connections between different diseases resulting from the genetic sequence. Using the system, we predict that combinations of existing drugs can help solve additional health issues."

Meanwhile, the technology is being used for additional research purposes at the Hebrew University, and it is expected to reach hospitals in the future where patients can benefit from it. "We can easily conduct the test for any patient who arrives with genetic mapping.

Currently, the cost of genetic mapping is high - about $1,000, because of which most patients do not undergo this test. Dr. Tabach hopes that within a few years, mapping tests will become significantly cheaper, making them accessible to the general public.

In the coming years, the lab will focus on identifying genes that can slow aging and protect against cancer, and on another model that will explain dozens of neurological diseases.