Largest-ever genetics study published

The largest-ever study of the genetics behind common diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and coronary heart disease has been published today.

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium examined DNA samples from 17,000 people across the UK. It brought together 50 leading research groups and 200 scientists in the field of human genetics from dozens of UK institutions.

It is said to have substantially increased the number of genes known to play a role in the development of common diseases.

“Many of the most common diseases are very complex, part ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’, with genes interacting with our environment and lifestyles,” said Professor Peter Donnelly, chair of the consortium, who is based at the University of Oxford.

“By identifying the genes underlying these conditions, our study should enable scientists to understand better how disease occurs, which people are most at risk and, in time, to produce more effective, more personalised treatments.”

Among the discoveries are four chromosome regions containing genes that can increase risk of type one diabetes and three new genes for Crohn’s disease.

Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers argue they have found for the first time a gene linking these two autoimmune diseases.

Further research undertaken by the Consortium will be studies of tuberculosis (TB), breast cancer, autoimmune thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis and ankylosing spondylitis.