Behind the Genes

People often use the terms genetics and genomics interchangeably, but is this right? In the first of a series of explainer podcasts, we’ve asked Dr Rich Scott, Chief Medical Officer, and Deputy CEO here at Genomics England, to clarify in less than 10 minutes, exactly what these two terms mean and when we should use them.

You can also find a series of short videos explaining some of the common terms you might encounter about genomics on our YouTube channel.

You can read the transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/Genetics-vs-genomics-whats-the-difference.docx  

If you’ve got any questions, or have any other topics you’d like us to explain, feel free to contact us on [email protected].

A survey of over 2000 British adults conducted by the Genetics Society found that trust in genetics is high and went up significantly during the pandemic.

In this episode, our Head of Public Engagement, Vivienne Parry OBE, is joined by guests, Dr Adam Rutherford, geneticist, author, and broadcaster, Professor Laurence Hurst, Professor of evolutionary genetics and  Director of the Milner Centre for Evolution and Dr Cristina Fonseca, Head of Engagement and Communications at Genetics Society, to discuss findings from the survey and the supporting research paper published in Plos Biology exploring the links between someone’s understanding of science and their attitudes towards it.

You can read our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/Public-views-on-genetics.docx

"We're all responsible for communicating science.... and our jobs will never be done because this is a hard game it turns out."

The Errol McKellar Foundation focuses on giving presentations and talks around the UK to raise the awareness of important men’s health issues, especially prostate cancer. Friends of Caswell Thompson (FOCT) is an organisation set up for, and dedicated to, raising awareness about prostate cancer in the BAME communities in Bristol and surrounding towns and villages through a range of activities, with a particular focus on reaching black men, in whom the incidence of prostate cancer is 1 in 4, compared with 1 in 8 in the general population.

You can read our transcript here: The-Errol-McKellar-Foundation-and-friends-of-Caswell-Thompson.docx 

"The fear of knowing vs. the fear of doing nothing."

Marie Nugent, Community Manager for Diverse Data at Genomics England, is joined by Errol McKellar, MBE, founder of the Errol McKellar Foundation, and the MOT yourself campaign, and Errol Thompson and Errol Campbell, Directors of Friends of Caswell Thompson, who are dedicated to supporting families affected by prostate cancer in and around Bristol. Today, we'll be hearing about the impact these two incredible companies are having in raising awareness of prostate cancer risk in the communities. 

On this episode, Lyra Nightingale, our ethics lead at Genomics England, is joined by Professor Anneke Lucassen and Dr Faranak Hardcastle in a deep discussion about ethics and data. They discuss the neutrality of data, cultural humility in research, the role of structural racism in science and the role of co-production in diversity.

You can read our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/Professor-Anneke-Lucassen-and-Dr-Faranak-Hardcastle.docx   

"Data is not neutral, or objective, because they don't exist in a vacuum. And they are produced by processes that we put them through, we curate them, we select them, collect them, clean them, edit them, and classify them and then end up analysing them."

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What is the impact of the participant data from the 100,000 Genomes Project? Rebecca Middleton and Jillian Hastings Ward explore these questions and discuss how the science has evolved at Genomics England with our CEO, Chris Wigley, Head of Translational Genomics, Dr Suzi Walker (a.k.a. the gene detective!) and Clinical Director and Director of Quality, Dr Ellen Thomas.

We are taking you back to the Reanalysis Webinar for Participants, where Jillian, Chair of the Participant Panel, and Rebecca, Vice Chair of the Participant Panel, asked Chris, Suzi and Ellen questions that the participants had about Genomics England's approach to reanalysis. Hear directly from participants of the 100,000 Genomes Project! 

You can read our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/Reanalyis-Webinar.docx 

''What should I do? Should I have another test? If so, what test should I have? What should be my next steps?''

As we draw a close to 2022, Chris Wigley takes us through the best parts of the year in this short but sweet episode of The G Word. From our 10-year anniversary to GERS 2022 to our inspiring patient stories, Genomics England has achieved many milestones this year. We have enjoyed the privilege to speak to so many incredible people from across the world to talk about what we love most, genomics. 

Thank you to our wonderful listeners, see you in 2023!

You can read our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/End-of-year-transcript.docx 

Nicola Perrin MBE, who is a new non-executive director on the Genomics England Board, has also recently been appointed to the Board of UK Biobank, as well as being the CEO of the Association of Medical Research Charities that AMRC, an organisation that brings together and supports over 150 health and medical charities to enable and support high-quality research.

View our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/Nicola-Perrin.docx  

"Don't underestimate the power of mothers on a mission!"

In this episode, Chris Wigley and Nicola Perrin MBE discuss all things life science, data and the importance of engaging users in research.

This week we are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the announcement of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

You can read our transcript here: https://files.genomicsengland.co.uk/documents/Podcast-transcripts/10-years-of-100K-Project.docx 

“Thanks to the 100,000 Genomes Project, Sam was the first person diagnosed in the mainstream NHS in England with a GRIN1 genetic disorder. That's been wonderful for us to know, as a family, who else we can find around the world with the same condition. But also, I'm really delighted that GRIN1 genes were added to the gene panels that the teams were using to diagnose more people as a consequence directly of the 100,000 Genomes Project. That's meant that we've been able to find a lot more since then, who shared the same condition. Hopefully, in due course, we'll have enough people that we can get more researchers interested and make real progress together."