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 … Continue reading →

Eleven genomic medicine centres (GMC) are the heart of the project, a plan to map 100,000 complete genetic codes of patients. The human genome consists of more than three billion chemical units or "base pairs" that make up the letters of the genetic code - abbreviated to A, T, C, and G. The way the letters pair up on both sides of the double-helix DNA molecule shapes the genome sequence. Mistakes in the pairing can lead to disease. The project is needed to treat illnesses such as cancer, which can take a variety of forms - breast cancer, for example, has at least 10 - each requiring a different treatment. In the case of breast cancers, more than 70 per cent respond to hormone therapies, but their reaction to the treatment is very varied. The new research centres will create personalised treatment that can be targeted more effectively at each variation of cancer. The participants in the project will agree to share their genetic code and medical records with drugs companies and researchers. Their DNA will then be examined in order to compare the genetic code of their healthy tissue to the genetic code of their tumour. It should then … Continue reading →

22 December 2014 at 1:26am Alok Jha Science Correspondent More than ten years since scientists completed the first sequence of the human genome, today the genetic era will make its grand entrance into mainstream clinical care. This morning, NHS England launched its 100,000 Genomes Project, a three-year plan to sequence the entire genetic code of thousands of patients with cancers and rare diseases. The latter includes thousands of conditions that are often named after the first doctor or scientist to describe the symptoms in a patient and can involve everything from neurological to muscular or behavioural problems. They are debilitating, often inherited and can shorten life but usually defy doctors trying to identify the biological causes. The potential for all this genetic information is huge. As well as insights into how cancers and rare diseases work and how they progress, knowing which genetic variations a person has will help doctors work out ways to personalise their treatment by giving them drugs, for example, that specifically target particular problematic genetic mutations. This already happens to some extent in the NHS with drugs such as Herceptin for some types of breast cancer but the potential to improve so-called precision medicine using genetic … Continue reading →

Genomic Medicine Centres (GMC) are at the heart of the 100,000 Genomes Project, a plan to map 100,000 complete genetic codes of patients. But why is it important? And what does it mean for future health care? 1. By combining DNA samples with patients health records it will improve the prediction and prevention of cancers and rare disease, say experts. 2. The uncovered DNA data can be used to develop personalised diagnostic procedures and drugs, argue scientists and doctors. 3. To reassure patients, strict security measures are in place to protect their identity and private details. 4. 100 patients with cancer and rare inherited diseases have already had their genomes sequenced in a pilot phase of the 100,000 Genomes Project. 5. Between 50,000 and 75,000 people will take part in the project and have their genomes sequenced that figures includes women, men and children. 6. The project will focus on five common cancers breast, bowel, ovarian, lung and CLL leukaemia and 110 inherited conditions. Read more: 12 facts you need to know about the 100,000 Genomes Project … Continue reading →

The UKs National Health Service (NHS) announced the establishment of 11 Genomic Medicine Centers to achieve an ambitious goal of decoding and collecting the complete genetic codes of 100,000 people by 2017. The aim of the project, named the 100,000 Genomes Project, is to better diagnose and treat patients with cancer and rare genetic diseases, the NHS said in a statement released Monday. The project will attempt to sequence the complete DNA, also known as the genome, of people with cancer and rare diseases, and then compare it to the genome of their family members. This method will allow doctors to spot mistakes and mutations within the patient's genetic code, and hence develop targeted and personalized drugs. The project is reportedly expected to cost 300 million pounds ($470 million). 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 personalization of drugs and other treatments to specific genetic variants, the NHS said, in the statement. In addition, the NHS said, the project would also drastically improve the current knowledge of how the expression of certain genes influences diseases and how different types … Continue reading →