deCODE Genetics is a biopharmaceutical company based in Iceland dedicated to analyzing and understanding the human genome to develop drugs and target life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1996, the company recently held a 25th-anniversary conference with its decade-long partner Amgen to discuss critical developments in genetic research. CEO and founder Kari Stefansson started off the two-day conference with insights into the development of deCODE and the research it has spearheaded in its quarter-century lifespan. 

Humble Beginnings

Stefansson recounted the impetus of deCODE Genetics as a conversation he had with one of his graduate students at a Starbucks about 27 years ago. The two talked about the potential of genetic sequencing and what it would take to harness that prospect when they agreed that the only option was to study genetics in a hypothesis-independent manner.