In 1996, Icelandic neurologist Kári Stefánsson founded a private company deCODE genetics, to assemble genealogical, genomic and health data from across the population of Iceland - then about 270,000 people. The purpose was to mine this data, under encrypted identifiers generated by the country's Data Protection Authority, to identify genetic variations associated with diseases and to use that information to develop new drugs. As of 2018, more than 160,000 people had contributed DNA and detailed health information to the company's research into the inherited components of common and rare diseases. deCODE has published hundreds of discoveries in cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer's and other central nervous system diseases, many types of cancer, and dozens of other conditions and traits. Now an independent subsidiary of Amgen, deCODE has provided novel targets now in clinical development and provides human genetics validation across a range of therapeutic areas. In 2018, Stefansson made good on a promise that the company would launch a website that enables Icelanders to request the analysis of their sequence data to determine whether they carry a SNP in the BRCA2 gene that has been linked in Icelanders to significantly increased risk of breast and prostate cancer. More than 10% of the population has used this portal, and the country's national health system has increased clinical testing, counseling and treatment to take advantage of this information for public health.