3 OCT 2026 — Singapore has spent years sequencing its residents' genomes for research. On 1 October the health minister, Ong Ye Kung, set out how that work will start reaching patients: genetic testing for inherited breast and ovarian cancer risk from December, an AI tool in clinics next year to flag people at risk of diabetes and high cholesterol, and a planned law on how insurers and employers may use genetic information.
He spoke at an event where the national precision-medicine agency signed agreements with AWS and Temasek-backed technology firm Temus.
Hereditary cancer testing from December
Singapore's first clinical use of genomics was familial hypercholesterolaemia, an inherited form of very high cholesterol. Under that programme, people at higher risk and their close relatives are offered genetic testing, and carriers of a mutation get subsidised preventive care, according to the minister's speech.
Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer becomes the second condition in December. More conditions are expected to follow as the ministry works out each specific clinical use.
An AI tool for family doctors
Next year, polyclinics and private GP clinics in the Healthier SG programme will get a tool called ACE-AI. It reads patients' medical histories to pick out those at higher risk of diabetes and high cholesterol, who can then be screened more often. The ministry plans to extend it to more diseases over time.
Rules on genetic data
Genomic research in Singapore runs on de-identified, anonymised records. That creates a practical problem when a study turns up something a participant's doctor should know. The minister said there must be a trusted route, with the participant's consent and safeguards, to contact that person for follow-up care.
A law on genetic information
The government has also consulted the public on proposed legislation setting rules for the use of genetic information outside clinics, "starting with insurance and employment." The goal is for people to be tested without fear that their genetic predispositions will be used against them. He did not give a date for the bill.
The sequencing behind it
Phase II of the National Precision Medicine programme sequenced more than 100,000 residents. Phase III, launched in November 2025, aims to sequence about 450,000 more, roughly a tenth of the resident population, according to a release from PRECISE and Temus.
PRECISE and Temus signed a memorandum for a five-year joint innovation centre to build the data and computing systems for that phase, extending a system the two have run since 2024. It handles about 13.6 petabytes of genomic data and is being scaled past 60 petabytes, work they say cuts processing from weeks to days. For Temus, TechNode Global reports, the project falls under Singapore's national AI programme, while PRECISE's separate deal with AWS covers cloud-based genomic infrastructure.
