News archive 2008

Largest ever genetics study at King’s

15 Apr 2008, PR 66/08

Research teams at King’s are to play a leading role in a follow up to last year's Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium the largest ever study of the genetics behind disease.  This year researchers will focus on the genetics behind common disease areas and learning difficulties in children.


In a new £30 million project the seven-fold increase in the number of samples to be analysed will allow researchers to look at 25 diseases such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and asthma, as well as studying the genetics of learning problems in children and individuals' responses to statins. 

The original Consortium in 2007 was a pioneering project using a new approach called ‘genome-wide association’ (GWA) which rather than picking out a few genes, studied the entire genome (all of our chromosomes) simultaneously. These studies identified a number of new genes and regions of the human genome which increase people’s susceptibility to or protect them from particular diseases.

This new project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, will be one of the most ambitious studies ever undertaken, aiming to analyse DNA samples from 120,000 people, the largest number of individuals ever to be studied.  The project will also bring together leading research groups from 16 institutions in the UK and internationally.

King’s role

Four research teams at King’s are to play leading roles in the Consortium with four research studies to be funded at the College.

Robert Plomin, Deputy Director of the MRC Centre for Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry, at the Institute of Psychiatry is working on research related to difficulties with reading and mathematics which are the most common and most heritable problems in childhood and have considerable impact on later life.  Using 4000 pairs of UK twins from his earlier Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), GWA will be used to identify genes that are in common between reading and maths difficulties.

Professor Plomin explains that: ‘Finding genes that affect both reading and maths will have far-reaching implications for diagnosis and for understanding pathways between genes, brain and behaviour’.

Professor Christopher Mathew, Head of the Complex Disease Genetics Group at King’s, will research a common form of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ulcerative colitis, that affects more than 100,000 people in the UK. The causes of the disease are not clear, and current treatments are aimed at minimising symptoms rather than a cure.

Professor Mathew comments: ‘This new scan follows on from our success in identifying several novel genes for the other form of IBD, Crohn’s disease, in the original WTCCC scan. We are very excited by the prospect of developing a detailed view of the genetic architecture of IBD, which has great potential for improved diagnosis and treatment of these common and disabling conditions’.        

Dr Elvira Bramon, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in the Department pf Psychological Medicine and Robin Murray, Head of the Division of Psychological Medicine and Professor Psychiatry, at the Institute of Psychiatry, are leading an investigation into the genes that determine some of the biological abnormalities found in schizophrenia. They will do this by studying patients with psychosis, their healthy first degree relatives and normal subjects examining the relationship between genes and abnormal findings on neuropsychological tests, MRI brain structure, and event-related potentials.

Richard Trembath, Director of the Biomedical Research Centre and Professor of Medical Genetics at King’s, will focus on Psoriasis, which is a common and disfiguring skin complaint affecting more than a million adults in the UK alone.

Professor Trembath comments: ‘We aim to identify regions of the human genetic material (DNA) that confer an increased risk for the development of psoriasis. By examining subtle differences in the genetic code and testing the frequency in very large numbers of subjects with psoriasis, we hope to construct a picture of the genetic network that will reveal the development of this complex disorder. The results will enable future studies to improve understanding of the basic causes of psoriasis and the potential to rationalise use and facilitate development of targeted treatments’.



Notes to editors

King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2007) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 140 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an annual income of approximately £400 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres - more than any other university.

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest ever study of the genetics behind common diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coronary heart disease, published its results in the journals Nature on 6 June 2007.

The £9 million study was one of the UK's largest and most successful academic collaborations to date. It examined DNA samples from 17,000 people across the UK, bringing together 50 leading research groups and 200 scientists in the field of human genetics from dozens of UK institutions. Over two years, they analysed almost 10 billion pieces of genetic information.

For further information, see http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2007/WTX037771.htm

The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £650 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk. 

For further information please contact: Craig Brierley (Media Officer) The Wellcome Trust T: 020 7611 7329 E:c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk 



Further information
Kate Moore, Public Relations Officer (Health Schools)
Public Relations Department
Email: kate.moore@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 4334



Next:
Review of the King's year
King’s shows way for London Leaders
2008 RAE results
£1.5m to study symmetries of the universe
Honorary recognition for King’s

Previous:
Rosalind Franklin remembered
Academic Health Sciences Centre plans
First for King’s and NYU
Major investment at King’s for heart research
King’s academics top NHS research list


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