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 The East London Genes and Health project will focus partly on
so-called "knock-out" genes -- rare in the general population but
more frequent in communities where cousins and other close relatives
marry and have children, as is more common in Pakistani and
Bangladeshi communities.
The largest community genetics study in the world will recruit
100,000 volunteers from East London, which have substantial South
Asian populations.
Researchers leading the study say health signals buried in the data
could have a big impact on peoples' health worldwide.
"This is the first time a large-scale genetics study has focused on
two distinct ethnic minority groups, with high levels of health
concerns in the community and the potential for significant genetic
variation," Richard Trembath, a professor at Queen Mary University
of London, told reporters at a briefing.
"These findings will play a key role in tackling health inequality
locally and in the UK, (and) we hope to reveal crucial information
about the link between genetics and common diseases which will have
significant international impact."
Studying genetic variation is crucial to improving understanding of
the "normal" variation in genes in certain populations, which can
then help the diagnosis of inherited rare diseases.
So-called "knock-out genes" occur when a healthy person has two
copies -- inherited from both parents -- of a gene that functions
differently to the norm.
The team hopes to use these findings to understand how knock-out
genes impact health and eventually to help develop new drugs or
treatments which block bad genes and enhance good ones.
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East London districts -- and their Pakistani and Bangladeshi
communities in particular -- are among Britain's least healthy. Life
expectancy is lower, rates of heart disease and diabetes are higher
and infectious diseases like tuberculosis are far more prevalent
than in other more affluent areas.
"Not only do South Asian people have some of the highest rates of
poor health in the UK, they are also markedly under-represented in
medical research," said David van Heel, the study's co-leader.
"We aim to change this by gathering a unique dataset which will then
be harnessed ... locally, nationally and internationally."
The team will look specifically at heart disease and diabetes and
also examine why people of certain ethnicities suffer poor responses
to some medicines.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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