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Featuring:
- Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer, NHS England
- Dr Rachel Butler, Consultant Clinical Scientist, University Hospital of Wales
- Penny Clouston, Consultant Clinical Scientist, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Professor Ian Cree, Consultant Pathologist, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
- Dr Clare Verrill, Consultant in Cellular Pathology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
In this series of videos, you have learned about whole genome sequencing requirements for sample processing and quality requirements in rare disease and cancer. Ensuring that samples are handled effectively at different stages of processing and DNA extraction is vital for the success of the project. And, as laboratory professionals at NHS Genomic Medicine Centres, you will play an important role in the development of an effective genomic medicine service that will bring real benefit to patients.
Prof Dame Sue Hill: The 100,000 Genomes Project and the work of NHS Genomic Medicine Centres provides the opportunity to transform care for our patients, now and into the future, and to inform new diagnoses and new tailored treatment to improve the efficiency and outcomes of what the NHS does so very well. By insuring that laboratory staff deliver the highest quality raw material for this project, the DNA that is extracted from participant samples will ensure that high-quality genomic information is returned. The established laboratory teams within the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres have already set the bar high for the processing and quality of samples that are collected. By ensuring that all staff are confident and competent in the protocols and procedures that are required will enable the NHS to deliver the very best for our patients now and into the future.
Penny Clouston: In my opinion, the 100,000 Genomes Project is one of the most exciting projects of this generation. I think it has tremendous possibilities for finding new genes, new proteins, new medicines, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for everyone in the Genomic Medicine Centres to be involved in that.
Prof Ian Cree: I think the histopathologist will find that Genomics England’s results are relevant to pathology as a whole. And it’s going to be important for histopathologists to understand the types of mutations that occur in cancer, their effects on the biology of the cancer cell, and how that biology can be altered by drug treatment to improve the patient’s outcome.
Dr Clare Verrill: The impact of the 100,000 Genomes Project is massive on pathology. This will be the single biggest revolution in pathology that will happen in my career. So at the moment as a pathologist, I will look at a group of tumours down the microscope, and although they have the same diagnosis I know they’re different. But at the moment I can’t unpick that, I can’t look beyond what I can just see. And that’s what the 100,000 Genomes Project will offer us. We’ll be able to look at the genetic make-up of tumours. And for patients, that means potentially identifying therapeutic targets, and they may be individual targets for that patient’s specific tumour and also providing improved prognostic information for patients.
Dr Rachel Butler: What I’m hopeful for is that we’ll be able to develop all kinds of new techniques off the back of the project that will enhance the services that we’re able to deliver in the NHS.
Penny Clouston: We’ve already seen the 100,000 Genomes effects. We recently interviewed young scientists and everyone came into the interview asking if they’d be working on the 100,000 Genomes samples. And the buzz from the general public is quite amazing.
