United Kingdom's national healthcare system called National Health Service (NHS) has started the 100,000 Genomes Project that will help in the war against cancer and other serious diseases.
The 100,000 Genomes Project was started by the David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK, this year. The three-year project is hoping to collect and decode 100,000 human genomes, which will help doctors and scientists know more about specific medical conditions.
About 75,000 people are expected to be involved in the project. Some of the patients are estimated to have debilitating and life threatening diseases.
NHS claims that the latest project is likely to revolutionize the medical industry of the future. The project can help doctors predict and prevent diseases, prescribe personalized drugs and enable precise and new diagnostic tests.
The agency also reveals that some patients with serious medical condition who participate in the genomics collection can benefit as diagnosis of rare diseases can be reached quickly in some cases. However, many patients may not benefit from the project, but will help scientists to improve knowledge of genetics influence of various diseases.
Genome samples from patients are estimated to be collected from Feb. 2, 2015. The genome samples will be sent to Illumina, a DNA sequencing company that will analyze the genome and send the results to NHS.
The 100,000 Genome Project may help scientists to develop better treatments for diseases such as cancer. Chemo therapy is used quite often as a treatment for cancer. However, chemotherapy can result in many side effects. Scientists suggest that chemotherapy may get obsolete in the next two decades.
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, National Medical Director of NHS England, claims that the 100,000 Genomes Project is very achievable, which will unlock various mysteries of threatening diseases.
"Embracing genomics will position us at the forefront of science and make the NHS the most scientifically advanced healthcare system in the world. This is the start of a unique, exciting journey that will bring benefits for patients, for the NHS and for society at large," says Professor Sir Bruce Keogh.
As part of the 100,000 Genomes Project, the government has 11 designated Genomic Medicine Centres (GMCs) across England. The GMCs are located in the North West coast, Greater Manchester, Birmingham and the West Midlands, Oxford, Southampton, Cambridge and the East of England, London, the North East, and Exeter and the South West Peninsula. NHS England hopes to designate more GMCs in the near term, which will ensure comprehensive coverage across England.
