Cracking the DNA code: can human genome sequencing help save lives in the NHS? With Dr Richard Scott

When: 18.00 – 20.00, Tuesday 28 March 2017

Where: Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrew’s Place, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4LE

The Human Genome Project was an extraordinary leap forward for science. Completed in 2003, it took 13 years and around £2.5 billion to sequence the first human genome. Since then, huge advances in technology mean that it is now possible to sequence a human genome in just days at a cost of well under £800. These developments have opened the way for the use of genome sequencing in healthcare.

But life is never simple. The job of interpreting a genome is complex. The incredible power of modern computing helps a great deal, but it’s still challenging to tell the difference between an innocent genomic ‘quirk’ and a dangerous, disease-causing ‘glitch’.

Dr Richard Scott will expand on this and other medical and ethical challenges that the NHS faces as it begins to use genomes for healthcare, speaking from the experience of his work as a clinical geneticist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and at the UK Government’s world leading 100,000 Genomes Project. Dr Richard Scott is clinical lead for rare disease for the 100,000 Genomes Project at Genomics England and a consultant and honorary senior lecturer in clinical genetics at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the University College London (UCL) Institute of Child Health.

The lecture begins at 6.30pm and lasts for 60 minutes. Registration is from 6pm – refreshments will be served.

Registration: Free lecture but advance booking is essential, see website for details.

Contact: Social.Events@rcplondon.ac.uk