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Dubai to Open UAE's First Robotic Biobank in 2023

Al Jalila Foundation, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives
Al Jalila Foundation, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives
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Dubai to Open UAE's First Robotic Biobank in 2023

Al Jalila Foundation, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives
Al Jalila Foundation, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives

Al Jalila Foundation, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, announced that it will establish the UAE’s first robotic biobank, in partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Thursday.

The collaboration is set to advance medical research in the areas of genetic disorders, cancer and other chronic diseases and pandemics, it said.

Set to open in 2023 with a capacity to manage seven million specimens, the biobank will be one of the world’s largest in terms of sample capacity. The facility will be located at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Medical Research Institute, part of Al Jalila Foundation, in Dubai Healthcare City.

Chairperson of Al Jalila Foundation Board of Trustees Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said, "Access to genetic and imaging data through biobanks is driving forward pioneering approaches to analysis that would have been impossible just a few years ago.”
“The launch of the UAE’s first robotic biobank reflects Dubai’s commitment to strengthening the capabilities of the healthcare sector and advancing efforts to improve people’s health. The biobank will serve as a major contributor to the advancement of modern medicine and will enable scientific discoveries that will help enhance the health and wellbeing of the community."

Due to the vital role biobanks play in progressing research and advancing medical discovery, the biobank will become an indispensable resource for the new Hamdan Bin Rashid Cancer Charity Hospital and other healthcare facilities in the UAE to conduct research and offer effective treatment.

A biobank is a place to store all types of human biological samples, such as blood, tissue, cells, or body fluids. It also stores data related to the samples as well as other biomolecular resources that can be used in health research. Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personalized medicine, and the development of diagnostics and therapeutics.

Dr. Raja Easa Al Gurg, Chairperson of Al Jalila Foundation Board of Directors and Member of the Board of Trustees, said, "Biobanking is a game-changer for healthcare and will revolutionize medical research, leading to better outcomes for patient treatment. The biobank will provide an opportunity for people in the community and researchers to work together to build a better, healthier future for generations to come. Scientific progress will shape the nation’s economy by influencing our knowledge about human health, disease, therapeutics, personalized medicine, and more."

Al Jalila Foundation is investing AED17 million to build a state-of-the-art facility and will manage seven million human biological materials. An automated, robotic, Artificial Intelligence based system will ensure biological samples are secured in cryogenic storage (below 80 degree Celsius) maintaining proper sample integrity and retrieval.

Dr. Abdulkareem Sultan Al Olama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, said, "Biorepositories are places where you can store patient samples and really serve as a hub of collaboration between scientists for doing either population health studies, or looking at cohorts of patients who have specific diseases, and trying to find better therapeutics and diagnostics to treat patients and save lives."

Patient confidentiality will be a priority in line with UAE’s laws and regulations. The biological and medical data will be used by scientists for research to make new discoveries about common and life-threatening diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke in order to improve public health.

Deputy Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority Professor Alawi Alsheikh-Ali said the establishment of the robotic biobank is a reflection of Dubai’s vision for advancing healthcare.

“I am confident the planned biobank will bring significant value to the healthcare system in Dubai and the region. It is a clear example of how the integration of care with discovery, supported by advancement, can set the foundation for better outcomes for our current and future patients,” he added.

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Water Levels Plummet at Drought-Hit Iraqi Reservoir

Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq, director of the Dukan Dam facility, gives an interview by the reservoir northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on June 4, 2025, where waters have been receding due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall, severe drought, and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)
Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq, director of the Dukan Dam facility, gives an interview by the reservoir northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on June 4, 2025, where waters have been receding due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall, severe drought, and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)
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Water Levels Plummet at Drought-Hit Iraqi Reservoir

Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq, director of the Dukan Dam facility, gives an interview by the reservoir northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on June 4, 2025, where waters have been receding due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall, severe drought, and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)
Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq, director of the Dukan Dam facility, gives an interview by the reservoir northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on June 4, 2025, where waters have been receding due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall, severe drought, and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)

Water levels at Iraq's vast Dukan Dam reservoir have plummeted as a result of dwindling rains and further damming upstream, hitting millions of inhabitants already impacted by drought with stricter water rationing.

Amid these conditions, visible cracks have emerged in the retreating shoreline of the artificial lake, which lies in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and was created in the 1950s.

Dukan Lake has been left three quarters empty, with its director Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq explaining its reserves currently stand at around 1.6 billion cubic meters of water out of a possible seven billion.

That is "about 24 percent" of its capacity, the official said, adding that the level of water in the lake had not been so low in roughly 20 years.

Satellite imagery analyzed by AFP shows the lake's surface area shrank by 56 percent between the end of May 2019, the last year it was completely full, and the beginning of June 2025.

Tawfeeq blamed climate change and a "shortage of rainfall" explaining that the timing of the rains had also become irregular.

Over the winter season, Tawfeeq said the Dukan region received 220 millimeters (8.7 inches) of rain, compared to a typical 600 millimeters.

- 'Harvest failed' -

Upstream damming of the Little Zab River, which flows through Iran and feeds Dukan, was a secondary cause of the falling water levels, Tawfeeq explained.

Also buffeted by drought, Iran has built dozens of structures on the river to increase its own water reserves.

Baghdad has criticized these kinds of dams, built both by Iran and neighboring Türkiye, accusing them of significantly restricting water flow into Iraq via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Iraq, and its 46 million inhabitants, have been intensely impacted by the effects of climate change, experiencing rising temperatures, year-on-year droughts and rampant desertification.

At the end of May, the country's total water reserves were at their lowest level in 80 years.

On the slopes above Dukan lies the village of Sarsian, where Hussein Khader Sheikhah, 57, was planting a summer crop on a hectare of land.

The farmer said he hoped a short-term summer crop of the kind typically planted in the area for an autumn harvest -- cucumbers, melons, chickpeas, sunflower seeds and beans -- would help him offset some of the losses over the winter caused by drought.

In winter, in another area near the village, he planted 13 hectares mainly of wheat.

"The harvest failed because of the lack of rain," he explained, adding that he lost an equivalent of almost $5,700 to the poor yield.

"I can't make up for the loss of 13 hectares with just one hectare near the river," he added.

- 'Stricter rationing' -

The water shortage at Dukan has affected around four million people downstream in the neighboring Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk governorates, including their access to drinking water.

For more than a month, water treatment plants in Kirkuk have been trying to mitigate a sudden, 40 percent drop in the supplies reaching them, according to local water resource official Zaki Karim.

In a country ravaged by decades of conflict, with crumbling infrastructure and floundering public policies, residents already receive water intermittently.

The latest shortages are forcing even "stricter rationing" and more infrequent water distributions, Karim said.

In addition to going door-to-door to raise awareness about water waste, the authorities were also cracking down on illegal access to the water network.

In the province of roughly two million inhabitants, the aim is to minimize the impact on the provincial capital of Kirkuk.

"If some treatment plants experience supply difficulties, we will ensure that there are no total interruptions, so everyone can receive their share," Karim said.