From its inception, virtually everything in Stefansson's strategy was unproven or controversial. The genomics community was still far from generating a first human genome sequence; he was proposing a data system for mining hundreds of thousands of genomes. Genes linked to rarer syndromes had been identified in isolated families in Sardinia, Newfoundland, Finland and elsewhere, and a BRCA2 variant had been found in Iceland, but he wanted to look at the most common public health problems. The Wall Street Journal called the venture a "big gamble," citing noted scientists that "to date, there's no scientific proof that researchers can decipher the genetics of a complex disease among the population of Iceland – or any country." And deCODE was a private company that was taking an entire nation as a unit of study, with the unprecedented level of public engagement and participation that would entail.