Amgen’s Icelandic DNA Quest

Researchers now know more about the DNA of Icelanders than any other nation on earth. To find new drugs and understand human evolution, scientists at Amgen Inc.’s DeCode Genetics have sequenced the genomes of more than 1 in every 100 people in the country.

The company’s Nordic quest follows a theory that mutant genes may unlock the secrets of future medicine by finding rare human outliers whose DNA protects them against ailments that others suffer. It’s a strategy that’s already yielded one future blockbuster, and the company says wide-scale genome sequencing will produce many more drug targets.