By Bae Ji-sook
Staff reporter

A private institute has launched a service providing a person their full genetic information within six weeks of a request for a fee of 1 million won.

The first commercial genome analysis service in Asia is expected to help many people "predict" and "avoid" diseases that have a genetic component, Theragen, the operator of the Theragen Bio Institute, said.

Each human has a complicated genetic map called a genome that is unique to every person.

The company's service, "Hellogenom," decodes 1 million genome pairs per person. If a person sends a saliva sample in a kit, they will be notified on their susceptibility to 50 to 100 widely known diseases.

"It tells whether a person has the genetic predisposition to develop diseases such as diabetes and some cancers among others," the company spokesman, Sung Se-hun, said.

While the information isn't 100 percent reliable in defining whether a person will get a certain disease or not, it will allow them to pay extra attention to their health, he added.

The institute's procedure will be supervised by Prof. Kim Sung-jin of Gachon University of Medicine and Science, who decoded 3 billion pairs of genomes in 2008.

The company said reaching out for a wider use of the genetic information will come in the future.

In Western countries, where large corporations are stepping in as investors, the information is used in finding people's heritage.

Sung also said the technique could be used in verifying the identity of children reported missing or ethnic Koreans living overseas.

However, he said the institute will focus more on providing health data. "We will lead the market, which is expected to mark 200 trillion won in 2015 worldwide. We are already seeing some positive signs for expansion into China, India and other Asian countries."

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr