Cairo: Egypt's Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy launched the execution phase of the Egypt Genome Project and received initial samples for the Sportsmen Genome during the NEXT GENE scientific conference, as per a Cabinet statement.

According to State Information Service Egypt, Sobhy stated that the project marks a significant step in enhancing athletic performance by utilizing genetic and biological data to design personalized training, nutrition, and medical programs. The initiative aims to reduce injuries and guide young athletes toward sports that align with their genetic profiles.

This first-of-its-kind initiative in Africa and the Middle East involves a 2-billion-Egyptian-pound investment and covers four key areas: population genome, disease genome, ancient Egyptian genome, and sports genome.

The project targets over 25,700 samples nationwide and includes building a high-performance computing infrastructure and a national genetic database for athletes. To date, more than 4,600 samples have been collected, including over 200 related to the sports genome.