Your Questions Answered

Patients and their families and carers come to us every day with questions about genetics, the 100,000 Genomes Project and a host of related subjects. We have already answered 100 of your questions! Browse the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) below for an answer to your query:

If you can’t find an answer in these FAQs, use the form in our Ask page. Our team of experts will seek to find an answer and reply to you within one month.

Go top

Genome-editing tool could increase cancer risk in cells, say researchers June 11, 2018
The team, led by Professor Jussi Taipale, now at the Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge, found that CRISPR-Cas9 triggers a mechanism designed to protect cells from DNA damage, making gene editing more difficult. Cells which lack this mechanism are easier to edit than normal cells. This can lead to a situation where genome-edited cell populations have […]
Scientists create ‘genetic atlas’ of proteins in human blood June 6, 2018
The study, published today in the journal Nature, characterised the genetic underpinnings of the human plasma ‘proteome’, identifying nearly 2,000 genetic associations with almost 1,500 proteins. Previously, there was only a small fraction of this knowledge, mainly because researchers could measure only a few blood proteins simultaneously in a robust manner. The researchers used a […]
Study finds that genes play a role in empathy March 12, 2018
Empathy has two parts: the ability to recognize another person’s thoughts and feelings, and the ability to respond with an appropriate emotion to someone else’s thoughts and feelings. The first part is called ‘cognitive empathy’ and the second part ‘affective empathy’. Fifteen years ago, a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge developed the […]

Your Questions Answered

East of England NHS Genomic Medicine Centre