Mallorca genetics institute targets rare diseases and cancer

On Mallorca, an 800-square-metre institute planned at Son Espases University Hospital in Palma aims to make genetic tests and advice easier to reach for people with rare diseases or cancer. Balearic health minister Manuela García announced the plan on 28 September 2026 during a visit to the hospital’s Molecular Diagnosis and Clinical Genetics Unit. It will be the Balearic Islands’ first institute of personalised medicine, with a focus on prevention, predicting disease and tailoring care.

Tests and advice on two floors

The institute will occupy Ses Cases Velles at the hospital. Its lower floor will hold a molecular biology laboratory, medical consulting rooms and genetic counselling rooms. The layout is intended to make access easier for patients with rare diseases or cancer and their families. Clinical and molecular geneticists will work on the upper floor.

Son Espases already produces 18,000 genomic reports and carries out 37,000 genomic tests, 6,000 cancer genetics tests and 2,500 whole-exome sequencing tests, according to the Balearic health department.

A closer look at genes and cancer treatment

A new genome sequencer will be housed in the institute. By reading the entire genome, it can find genetic changes linked to rare diseases that earlier tests could not detect, the health department says.

The machine can also carry out liquid biopsies: blood tests that look for fragments of tumour DNA. Doctors can use the results to check how well cancer treatment is working and adjust it. The health department has not given an opening date for the institute.

Topics: Health

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com