CAGS was originally envisaged by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, UAE, to alleviate human suffering from genetic diseases in the Arab World.

[2] As of 2014[update] offices of the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies were located within the premises of Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

A small number of local scientists from the UAE constitute the Executive Board of CAGS, which helps in taking policy decisions for the Centre.

As of 2014[update] the Council had representations from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia.

By December 2008, the database has finished its project with respect to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman, and hopes to complete its coverage of genetic disorders in Qatar within a few more months.[when?]

The Pan Arab Human Genetics series of Conference is planned to be held every alternate year by the Centre as a means of providing a platform on dialogue and education for geneticists in the region, to share their knowledge and to talk on common issues.

Other participating organizations included the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology, UNESCO, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, NIH, and the journal, Nature Genetics.

Several meeting have been held with the members of the Council, as well as the Director of the HVP in order to understand the nature of work involved, and to initiate the project in the region.

Each of these leaflets provides a general description of an inherited blood disorder, along with its symptoms and major characteristics, and follows it up with causes and risk factors, diagnosis and management of the disease.