A team of Liverpool scientists have been selected to take part in a genetic revolution.
The group will participate in a world-leading project to tackle the genetic causes of cancer and rare diseases.
The North West Coast NHS Genomic Medicine Centre is a partnership led by Liverpool Womens Hospital which will be helping deliver the 100,000 Genomes Project, a three year scheme launched by David Cameron.
Angela Douglas, scientific director for genetics at Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust and chair of the British Society for Genetic Medicine (BSGM), said: The 100,000 Genome Project is welcomed by the BSGM as an exciting and unprecedented development that offers the UK the opportunity of being a leader in the field of genomic medicine.
The project has the potential to transform the future of healthcare.
It could improve the prediction and prevention of disease, enable new and more precise diagnostic tests, and allow personalisation of drugs and other treatments to specific genetic variants.
The initiative involves collecting and decoding 100,000 human genomes complete sets of peoples genes that will enable scientists and doctors to understand more about specific conditions.
Life Sciences Minister George Freeman said: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to design and discover 21st century medicines which is why we have invested in the 100,000 Genomes Project.
We also want to ensure NHS patients benefit which is why we have now selected NHS hospitals to help us sequence genomes on an unprecedented scale and bring better treatments to people with cancers and rare diseases for generations to come.
It is anticipated that around 75,000 people will be involved in this project which will also include some patients who have life threatening or debilitating diseases.
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Liverpool to lead world in genetic cancer research