Jakarta (ANTARA) – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin showcased Indonesia’s advances in genomic science and precision medicine to Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden during her visit to the Center for Biomedical and Genomics for Health at the Eijkman Building in Jakarta on Friday.
Princess Victoria, visiting in her capacity as an Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reviewed the national Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative (BGSi), which utilizes genomic technology to strengthen individual healthcare and epidemic preparedness.
Minister Budi noted that the Swedish royal expressed strong interest in Indonesia’s rapid adoption of advanced genomic frameworks typically concentrated in high-income countries.
“She was interested because she did not realize Indonesia was already doing this,” Minister Budi said following the tour.
“This is an initiative being implemented in Europe, America, the UK, and the UAE. Rich countries want longevity, right? Rich people do not want to die early; they want to live to 120 or 130,” he added.
The minister explained that mapping human DNA enables medical personnel and researchers to identify genetic markers linked to specific diseases, allowing future diagnoses and treatments to be tailored more precisely to a patient’s biological profile.
While genome sequencing technology was previously used primarily to identify viral traits, Budi highlighted that Indonesia is now expanding its application to analyze complex human genetic structures.
“Viruses only have 30,000 base pairs. Humans have 2 billion. So, for example, if someone’s kidneys are damaged, we have to identify one of their DNA fragments. We have to find the one,” he added.
To build a comprehensive national genomic database, the Health Ministry is integrating genetic data from both hospital patients and healthy individuals. The ministry is expanding its data storage infrastructure from its current capacity of 4.5 petabytes toward a target of 10 petabytes.
Supported by the UNDP, the BGSi initiative has established 10 specialized genomics centers and 29 national surveillance laboratories across the country, aiming to sequence 400,000 human genomes by 2030.
The tour of the Eijkman Building marked the start of Crown Princess Victoria’s four-day official visit to Indonesia, which includes stops in Jakarta and Lombok.
Her itinerary focuses on Indonesia’s progress in genomic science, healthcare digitalization, blue ecosystems, indigenous forest preservation, and sustainable community development.
Related news: Indonesia expands genome research to tackle future diseases
Related news: Genome research center built to support food security: Minister
Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan, Yashinta Difa
Editor: M Razi Rahman
Copyright © ANTARA 2026