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Genomics England partners with Inivata and Thermo Fisher Scientific

Oct13

Genomics England partners with Inivata and Thermo Fisher Scientific to unlock the genomic secrets of blood plasma – and improve our understanding of cancer

Genomics England has announced today a new industry collaboration with leading life sciences companies Inivata and Thermo Fisher Scientific to improve understanding of cancer. The pilot project aims to assess the quality of blood plasma samples and explore the potential of liquid biopsy testing to improve disease management and patient outcomes.

Helping apprentices lead the field in big data

Oct11

Anglia Ruskin and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute team up to deliver new training

Anglia Ruskin University and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have received funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to launch a new degree apprenticeship in Data Science in September 2018.

Anglia Ruskin has been supported in its application by several global companies involved in genetics and computational biology,

The 100,000 Genomes Project by numbers

Oct2

This update gives you the number of whole genomes sequenced so far against our target of 100,000. This figure is updated every month.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part and helped us to achieve this!

For background on our progress, see our previous update.

Genomes Sequenced = 36,083

Genomics England Responds to Report from Life Sciences Sector

Aug30

In response to a report by Sir John Bell to the UK government, Sir John Chisholm, Executive Chair of Genomics England said:

Sir John Chisolm

Executive Chair

See the full report here.

“Genomics England welcomes Sir John Bell’s report to government from the life sciences sector – recognising as it does the critical role that genomics will play in the future health, well-being and economic prosperity of this country. Read more >

GENE Consortium legacy steers industry cooperation at Genomics England

Jul28

On 26 March 2015, Genomics England launched a groundbreaking collaboration with academia, NHS Genomics Medicine Centres (GMCs) and the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Known as the Genetics Expert Network for Enterprises (GENE) Consortium, its goals have been ambitious – to align the needs of all sectors to ensure that genomics discoveries are translated into medical treatments, and embedded into mainstream NHS care, as quickly as possible.

GENE has involved 13 private companies working pre-competitively with Genomics England.

Genomics England’s GeCIP virtual Research Environment comes online

Jul27

The 100,000 Genomes Project’s primary goal is to transform the NHS: embedding genomic medicine for earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments. At the same time, the Project is tasked with making the resulting data available to researchers across the world to better interpret genomic data − leading to improved clinical understanding and patient outcomes.

In mid June, we took a big step towards achieving our research goals, with the first groups of scientists accessing data from the Project’s main programme.

The National Initiatives Meeting – genomics around the globe

Jun30

Three years after the launch of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) and six months after the first GA4GH-hosted convention of national genomics initiatives, Kathryn North (Australian Genomics) and Genomics England’s Chief Scientist, Professor Mark Caulfield recently convened representatives from 13 National Initiatives in genomic data collection to discuss areas of potential collaboration at the Wellcome Trust in London.

The goal of the meeting was to identify potential areas of collaboration,

Project Milestones for our Genomic Medicine Centres

Jun29

This month we’ve been celebrating four milestones for our brilliant recruitment teams across the country. The 100,000 Genomes Project could not exist without all the hard work of multi-disciplinary teams on the front line in the clinic, who speak to patients about the project and sign them up to be involved as participants.

NHS England established the Genomic Medicine Centres (GMCs) and clinicians based in those areas are working hard to find more people eligible to join the project.

PanelApp reaches 150 diagnostic-grade virtual gene panels

May5

The Genomics England PanelApp – our public crowdsourcing tool for evaluating and sharing rare disease gene panels – has now reached 150 virtual gene panels at version 1 or above. This means that the ‘green genes’ on these panels can be used in the analysis of rare disease genomes in the 100,000 Genomes Project, helping to find a diagnosis for patients and their families.

The publicly-available gene panels (or lists) are first created by our team of curators.

Professor Joanne Hackett joins Genomics England as new Commercial Director

Apr6

Professor Joanne Hackett joins Genomics England on 18 April 2017 as its new Commercial Director and lead member of the company’s new Commercial Business Committee.

As Commercial Director, Joanne will develop the next phase of Genomics England’s industry engagement strategy by developing, managing and accelerating relationships with commercial organisations − creating opportunities for collaboration both nationally and globally.

Joanne brings a formidable track record of clinical, academic and entrepreneurial success.

Whole genome analyses for cancer returned to the NHS within three weeks

Mar30

One key aim of the 100,000 Genomes Project is to improve cancer care for NHS patients. Whole genome sequencing in cancer can enable clinicians to choose better treatments and improve outcomes for patients through personalised medicine.

While the Project continues to recruit patients and develop the infrastructure for interpreting genomic data at scale, we are delighted that the first four cancer whole genome analyses from our ‘fast track’ project have been returned to the NHS in 18 working days of patient samples being dispatched to our whole genome sequencing pipeline.

Whole Genome Sequencing to diagnose TB

Mar29

Public Health England has announced that Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is now being used to identify different strains of tuberculosis (TB).

This is the first time that WGS has been used as a diagnostic solution for managing a disease on this scale anywhere in the world. The technique, developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, allows faster and more accurate diagnoses, meaning patients can be treated with precisely the right medication more quickly.

Scotland study to probe causes of rare diseases

Mar2

People in Scotland with rare genetic diseases are set to benefit from a DNA study that seeks to improve their diagnoses and treatments.

The study – launched by the Scottish Genomes Partnership in collaboration with Genomics England – will analyse the entire genetic make-up of 330 people with rare diseases and members of their family.

Using advanced computing to link genetic data with patients’ health information, scientists hope to pinpoint differences in their DNA code that may be responsible for their condition.

Rare Disease Day 2017

Feb28

Today (February 28th) is Rare Disease Day.

Rare disease is a deceptive term. There are 6,000 to 8,000 different rare diseases. So although each one is rare, as a group they are common. So much so, that 1 person in 17, or 7% of people are affected by a rare disease.

About 80% of rare diseases have a genetic cause. The cause is often a single changed ‘letter’ amongst the 3.2 billion letters of DNA that make up the human genome.

The 100,000 Genomes Project Update

Feb20

By Sir John Chisholm, Executive Chairman, Genomics England.

As many NHS Genomic Medicine Centres are gearing up to organise local activities to mark Rare Disease Day next week (28th February), the 100,000 Genomes Project is making great progress. All thirteen NHS Genomic Medicine Centres are recruiting rare disease and cancer patients to the Project, and initiatives in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have agreed to join us in this world leading programme.

Genomics England selects QIAGEN hereditary and rare disease solution

Jan31

Genomics England today announce that it has selected QIAGEN’s HGMD® Human Gene Mutation Database for the 100,000 Genomes Project. HGMD is the leading content knowledgebase for interpretation of genomic data in hereditary and rare diseases, providing a deep resource of expertly curated data from the world’s scientific and clinical literature.

The 100,000 Genomes Project will use QIAGEN’s HGMD Online Professional solution, which is part of the QIAGEN Clinical Insight (QCI) portfolio of solutions for the interpretation of complex genomic data,

Intellia Therapeutics joins the GENE Consortium

Jan12

Today (12 January 2017), Intellia Therapeutics has joined the Genomics England Genomics Expert Network for Enterprises (GENE) Consortium, as the first dedicated genome editing company to participate in the 100,000 Genomes Project.

The GENE Consortium, established in March 2015, is the 100,000 Genomes Project’s industry partnership. Intellia will join 12 other companies who are working together in a pre-competitive trial. The collaboration aims to identify the most effective and secure way of bringing industry expertise into the 100,000 Genomes Project to realise future potential benefits for patients affected by rare diseases or cancers.

A Year of Conversations about Genomics

Dec14

By Vivienne Parry OBE, Head of Engagement at Genomics England

When we began the 100,000 Genomes Project, our initial engagement work was with potential participants, affected both by rare disease and cancer. We wanted to know what their principal concerns were. They turned out to be both practical – for instance, what the impact of results might be on their families or if they might be disadvantaged financially by taking part – and ethical,

Findings from the National Consent Evaluation

Dec2

By Dr Caroline Benjamin, National Service Evaluation Project Lead and Guild Senior Research Fellow, University of Central Lancashire

Earlier this year, I and colleagues from NHS Genomic Medicine Centres were asked to deliver an evaluation with the aim to further improve the quality of the consent process and materials in the 100,000 Genomes Project.

On behalf of the project team leads, Markella Boudioni (Imperial College London), Eliot Marsden and Antje Lindenmeyer (University of Birmingham),

UK Prime Minister Opens New Sequencing Centre

Nov21

Today (21st November) Genomics England, Illumina, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute hosted the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, at the opening of the Bridget Ogilvie Building on the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge. This is where DNA sequencing for the 100,000 Genomes Project takes place.

It is also the site where the UK’s contribution to the original Human Genome Project took place over 15 years ago. The campus is now home to some of the world’s foremost institutes and organisations in genomics.