The root causes of diseases like cancer, dementia and heart disease are expected to be better understood following a "significant" research partnership involving an Indian-origin entrepreneur's genetics initiative.
Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, said the development of a world-first "epigenetic map" of the human genome could lead to breakthroughs in new diagnoses and treatments.
The new resource for medical researchers will be created following the UK government's strategic partnership with the Oxford-headquartered life science company, UK Biobank, NHS England and Genomics England unveiled last week.
"This project represents a significant leap forward in epigenetic research, an increasingly important area of study related to disease progression and response to treatment," said Sanghera, born in the UK to a Punjabi family.
"Working with UK Biobank to create the world's largest epigenetic dataset aligns with our commitment to drive discovery in healthcare and genomics. By capturing comprehensive methylation data, we aim to open new doors for understanding disease, especially cancer, and ultimately enable more personalised, effective treatments for patients," he said.
Epigenetics is the emerging study of how inheritable traits, such as the risk of developing a certain disease, can emerge and change without actual changes in our DNA code, but rather as a result of modifications that change how our genes are expressed. These modifications can arise randomly, but also in response to environmental factors like smoking or UV exposure.
According to the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), put simply, if our DNA is the instructions in the cookbook, our epigenome is the chef; different chefs will interpret the cooking method in their own way, and as a result, the meal produced will be different.
"Diseases like cancer and dementia have brought heartache to every family in the country. By bringing government, the NHS (National Health Service), researchers and leading businesses together in partnership, we can transform our understanding of these conditions," said Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the government's '10 Year Health Plan' wants to shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, to tackle the root causes of diseases such as cancer and dementia.
"We will marry the care and compassion of the NHS with the ingenuity of our country's leading scientific minds, to develop new cutting-edge treatments and technologies, and make our NHS fit for the future," he said.
For the UK Biobank Epigenetics Project, Oxford Nanopore Technologies will use its pioneering technology to conduct genetic sequencing of 50,000 samples from UK Biobank - the world's most advanced source of data for health research.
This work is expected to deliver the world's first "comprehensive dataset of epigenetic modification in the human genome", dubbed a potentially game-changing resource for health researchers worldwide.
According to DSIT, recent studies have shown that epigenetics can play a major role in uncovering cancer's underlying causes, enabling more targeted treatments and improved patient care by addressing the non-inherited factors driving tumour progression and resistance.
This could pave the way to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients, giving hope to the millions of people who live with conditions like these.
Professor Naomi Allen, Chief Scientist at UK Biobank, explained: "Our lifestyle and environment can cause chemical changes to our DNA, which can contribute to disease by altering the ways genes tell the body which proteins to produce.
By understanding these chemical changes, known as epigenetics, we can learn why some people fall ill and others don't, even when they share the same genes.
"Right now, researchers only have small amounts of epigenetic data to study - this project will create a dataset unlike anything else in the world. It is orders of magnitude bigger, and because of the technology, the data will be much more detailed. Combining epigenetic data with the existing genetic, imaging, proteomic and lifestyle data that UK Biobank holds for our participants, will lead to a much better understanding of how diseases develop in mid- to old age."
Oxford Nanopore is hailed as one of the UK's most successful spinout companies, having been founded at Oxford University in 2005.
The latest work will utilise the company's novel sequencing technology, which uniquely analyses a wide range of epigenetic changes during the DNA sequencing process.
The project will see them continue to improve the insights from their data and translate these into impact for NHS patients in the country.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
