Wednesday 2 July 2008
The Institute of Cancer Research says the amazing advancements in mapping the human genome will allow its researchers to identify more cancer causing genes much faster.
Professor Nazneen Rahman, Head of Childhood Cancer Genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research welcomed the announcement yesterday that the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute had sequenced the equivalent of 300 human genomes in just over six months.
"The scale of gene analysis mapped out by the Sanger Institute means that scientists will be able to answer questions about the role of genes in many different types of cancer," she said.
"By collaborating with the Sanger Institute and applying the next generation sequencing technology used in this project, we will be able to build on our groundbreaking work into cancer at a rate which would have been simply unthinkable even a few years ago.
"Cancers are the result of changes to our genetic code. Mapping the human genome allows cells to be studied to identify essentially all the changes which could cause cancer development.
"By identifying more genes associated with cancer we hope to find new routes to improve diagnosis and treatment."
The Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a world leading in the study of genes in cancer. The Project is co-led by Professor Mike Stratton who holds a joint appointment as Professor of Cancer Genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research.
You can find out more at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute here.
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