Polygenic risk score company Allelica adds US scientists to advisory board
What’s your polygenic risk score?
Genetic variation is the basis of evolution. In the late 19th Century, a Moravian monk named Gregor Mendel passed his time by running experiments cross-breeding different types of pea plant. He had short and tall pea plants, pea plants with different colored flowers, and plants with different types of leaf and pea shape. Because Mendel was able to see the physical representation of genetic variation in his pea plants, it also allowed him to understand genetic inheritance for the very first time.
Mendel's interest in how these traits were inherited over time paved the way for the modern science of genetics. Decades later, by studying families of people with cystic fibrosis, researchers found that the inheritance of cystic fibrosis followed Mendel’s laws and so was likely due to variation in a single gene. Later, painstaking genetic work identified that mutations in a single gene called CFTR cause the disease.
Mendelian inheritance can’t explain the inheritance of most disease however. It is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to disease risk, so most disease risk is more complex than the case of cystic fibrosis would suggest. There is a growing understanding that, in addition to a large environmental component, most diseases and many human traits are polygenic: they are controlled by variation across the genome and not just by variation at single genes.
Allelica is an Italian software genomics company that is applying this science to help doctors better understand their patient's disease risk factors by developing algorithms and digital tools to accelerate the integration of the Polygenic Risk Score into clinical practice. Allelica's team believes that the PRS will be routinely used in clinical practice for reclassifying people between risk categories and identifying those individuals at high genetic risk of disease so that interventions, treatments, and monitoring can be focused on these groups.
Allelica adds US scientists to its scientific advisory board
The United States represents a massive market opportunity for Allelica, which is why the company recently shifted its base of operations from Rome to NYC. Today, Allelica has appointed four top genetic scientists to is scientific advisory board — these key individuals will help guide Allelica's go-to-market strategy.
“Allelica is focused on advancing the clinical integration of Allelica’s PRS software into healthcare systems and giving patients access to precision medicine. We are delighted to welcome four leading scientists in their respective fields to help guide Allelica in our mission to advance disease prevention through broader application of polygenic risk scores in healthcare.”
