Breast Cancer in the Family This Nowgen Schools Genomics
Programme video explores how genomic research is helping
scientists to understand the genetic and environmental factors
affecting complex medical conditions, such as breast cancer.
Risk of breast cancer is approximately one in ten in northern
European populations, making it the most common cancer in women.
Alison Griffies has a strong family history of breast cancer,
but no known genetic change has been found in her family to
explain this pattern. Professor Gareth Evans, a leading expert
in breast cancer, describes how genome-wide association studies
scan genomes to look for genes that might be associated with the
condition. The data from these studies and other research has
provided a better understanding of the causes of cancer. It is
hoped that this knowledge will be used in future prevention
programmes for breast cancer, and also to provide answers for
families such as Alison's. However, whole genome research
projects, such as biobanks, raise ethica