The government has announced a £175 million fund for genomics research intended to save lives and improve health outcomes.
£105 million will be spent on a research study lead by Genomics England in partnership with the NHS. The study will explore the effectiveness of using whole genome sequencing to find and treat rare genetic diseases in newborn babies.
The Newborn Genomes Programme is intended to support vital healthcare research to enable better diagnostics and treatments to be developed and explore the potential benefits of safely and securely storing a patient’s genome on record to help predict, diagnose and treat future illnesses through their lifetime. The current NHS heel prick blood test is used to detect nine health conditions in babies, but it is believed genome sequencing to detect hundreds more.
£26 million will be spent on a cancer programme to evaluate genomic sequencing technology to improve the accuracy and speed of diagnosis for cancer patients and use artificial intelligence to analyse a person’s DNA, alongside other information such as routine scans.
There will also be £22 million for a programme to sequence the genomes of up to 25,000 research participants of non-European ancestry, are under-represented in genomic research to improve our understanding of DNA and its impact on health outcomes. The intention is to reduce health inequalities and improve patient outcomes.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "We’ve made advancements in so many areas to improve people’s health – from ensuring ground-breaking new medicines get to patients faster to bolstering the NHS workforce to ensure we have record numbers - and this plan, backed by £175 million, sets out how we will use the latest genomic technology to go further.
"The potential for genomics to revolutionise the way we deliver health care is great – if we can detect treatable illnesses earlier and ensure patients access potentially lifesaving treatment faster, we could improve people’s lives across the county, including thousands of babies through this new pilot.
"The NHS is a world leader in genomics and by investing in this cutting-edge research we’re cementing our status as a life sciences superpower."
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
