Researchers set to find 'genetic signposts' for eight diseases
28 September 2005
One of the biggest projects ever undertaken to identify the genetic variations that may predispose people to, or protect them from, eight major diseases is set to begin, after receiving £8.6 million funding from the Wellcome Trust.
A collaboration of 24 leading human geneticists, known as the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, will search for the 'genetic signposts' for tuberculosis, coronary heart disease, type I diabetes, type II diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, bipolar disorder (manic depression) and hypertension (high blood pressure).
Over 19 000 DNA samples will be analysed. For each disease, scientists will collect and analyse the genetic make-up of 2000 affected individuals. These will then be compared with 3000 control samples, to identify genetic differences between people who do and don't have each disease.
It is hoped that by identifying these genetic signposts, researchers will be able to understand which people are most at risk and which genes are contributing to each disease. Eventually, this should lead to more effective treatments.
The research will be conducted at a number of institutes and universities across the UK, including the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge University and Oxford University. It will take around three years to complete.
The project builds on the sequencing of the human genome – a third of which was completed at the Sanger Institute – and the HapMap project, which produced a catalogue of common genetic variations within the genome.
As a second project, the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium plans to analyse 15 000 samples to look for genetic variations relating to another four diseases: breast cancer, autoimmune thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis and ankylosing spondylitis (a chronic inflammatory disease of the spine and adjacent joints).
