The National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN for its name in Spanish, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica) is one of Mexico's twelve national institutes under the Secretariat of Health. The institute was founded in 2004, with its official headquarters built eight years later. INMEGEN is dedicated to the development of genomic medicine for the Mexican population. The institute carried out research projects aim to improve healthcare through prevention and medical care related to oncogenomics, nutrigenomics and pharmacogenomics. INMEGEN also studies metabolic, cardiovascular, autoimmune and infectious diseases. INMEGEN collaborates with other Mexican and international institutions for the development of different projects. The current director of the institution is Francisco Xavier Soberón.
History
The National Institute of Genomic Medicine (Spanish Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica (INMEGEN)) is the eleventh National Institute of Health founded in Mexico. It was founded in 2004 by a consortium made up the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the National Council of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Health and the Mexican Foundation for Health. INMEGEN was the first National Institute of Health created with the support of all political parties in the Congress. The founding ceremony was led by then president Vicente Fox Quesada.
The initial investment in the project was 500 million pesos (about US$50 million), with construction beginning in 2005. In 2008 construction projected was suspended due to an audit by the federal government, but construction continued in 2009. with the main headquarters completed in 2012, eight years after its official founding. The inauguration of this building was carried out by President Felipe Calderón. While construction was taking place, researchers of the institution worked in other locations, on projects such as the Mexican Genome Project.
The current director is Francisco Xavier Soberón, who replaced the founder of the INMEGEN Gerardo Jiménez Sánchez in 2009.
The National Institute of Genomic Medicine's logo represents the sequence of nucleotides of the FOXP2 gene, essential in the development of language. It has the shape of a semicircle surrounding a double stranded DNA molecule with the shape of a human.
Facilities
The National Institute of Genomic Medicine is located in Mexico City, on Anillo Periferico in the south of the city, next to the Instituto Federal Electoral. The building has classrooms, two auditoriums and a 500-person auditorium. The institute also has 18 research laboratories, 6 units of high technology, and 4 peripheral units.
Mission
According to its mission statement, the National Institute of Genomic Medicine contributes to the health care of Mexican society through research projects. Its objective is not only to improve preventive medical care in the country, but also to expand knowledge of genomic medicine through research in oncogenomics, nutrigenomics, and autoimmune disease genomics, and more.
The Institute aims to follow combination of cultural, technological and universal ethics and is concerned in upholding human rights. It has regulations related to administer biological samples and genome of the Mexican population. With this regulation the INMEGEN prevents discrimination against individuals or cultures because of genetics.
Lines of investigation
The National Institute of Genomic Medicine centers its attention on two main objectives, development of preventive medicine and the design of medical treatments tailored to a person's genetic makeup. INMEGEN employs approximately sixty scientists dedicated to the genome research. Currently the Institution is carrying out several different projects.
INMEGEN studies several types of cancer. These investigations involve functional cancer genomics and oncogenomics, including breast, pancreatic, prostate and liver cancer. INMEGEN studies the molecular biomarkers of early liver cancer. It is developing keys for the identification of genes which show a significant increase or decrease in their expression level of fibrosis in preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in the liver. Other research focuses on biomarkers that help identify liver cancer in a differential diagnosis. Additional cancer studies include creating 3D models of diverse tumor cultures. INMEGEN also investigates the participation of progesterone in brain tumors and the identification of proteins that participate in the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy. INMEGEN is developing the cancer genome of the Mexican population. Researchers at INMEGEN also study Werner syndrome and the pulmonary adenocarcinoma.