University of Leicester Plays Key Role in Creating Genetic Map of the UK (1/20/2008)

The University of Leicester is playing a key role in a national project to create a genetic map of the UK.

The map will shed light on the history of Ancient Britons and modern day disease.

The University's Department of Genetics is a collaborator in the People of the British Isles project which aims to analyze the geographical variation in Britain's genetic history.

The People of the British Isles project, funded by the Wellcome Trust and headed by Professor Sir Walter Bodmer at the University of Oxford, aims to collect 3,500 blood samples from people whose parents and grandparents were born in the same rural locality. They will use these to look at the patterns of differences in people's genetic make-up in different regions, and so produce a genetic map of the UK.

Working with researchers across the country, Professor Walter Bodmer and colleagues at the University of Oxford have already collected some 2900 samples from volunteers and are looking to collect a total of 3500 volunteers.

Organizers of the project asked Dr. Turi King, of the world-renowned Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester, if she would act as the collaborator for the Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire counties. Dr King has had a great deal of experience in recruiting volunteers to take part in genetic studies within her own department and is therefore ideally placed to help with the People of the British Isles project.

"The aim is to characterise the genetic make-up of the British population and relate this to the historical and archaeological evidence as well as provide valuable control sets for those studying genes associated with disease." says Dr. Turi King.

"Our part in the project is to collect samples from people in Leicestershire and Nottingham. We want to recruit people to take part whose ancestry is in rural areas so as to avoid the recent mixing up of populations in urban areas and to reach back in time as far as possible. In particular, we are interested in collecting blood samples from volunteers living in rural areas whose grandparents on both sides were born in the same location, within a radius of approximately 30 miles of each other.

Dr. King added: "The East Midlands is a particularly important area as it formed the heartlands of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia and large parts also fell within the area of the Danelaw, an area dominated Danish Vikings during the 9th and 10th centuries. It will be very interesting to see what this project throws up about the genetic legacies of Ancient Britons in this area."

Not only will the analysis of genetic variation found within these British samples shed light on the genetic impact of peoples such as the Angles, Saxons and Vikings on present day UK but some of this variation contributes to inherited differences in susceptibility to many common diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. "The samples will provide a valuable control set for studies on disease susceptibility which depend on comparing the frequency of genetic markers in disease groups with that in control groups. If we are able to eliminate genetic markers linked to geography rather than disease, then we should be able to minimise the risk of finding spurious associations. "says Prof Walter Bodmer

The researchers have already carried out some analysis of the samples they have already collected and presented their initial results on Face of Britain, a television series that ran in 2007.

APPEAL TO PEOPLE IN LEICESTERSHIRE

'People of the British Isles' is currently seeking people aged over 18 years old to donate their DNA by giving a small sample of their blood. All of a volunteer's grandparents should have been born in the same rural area, for instance the same Parish, County or a 30-40 mile radius. All Dr. King will need is about 60 minutes of a volunteer's time, to fill in a brief questionnaire, and about 20ml (about a tablespoon) of blood. Samples have to be anonymised, which means that individual results won't be given out but general results of the study will be reported in a newsletter as they arise.

If this describes you, they would like to hear from you.

The project will be collecting samples

February 2, 2008:

9:30am - 12pm Market Harborough Methodist Church

February 9, 2008:

9:30am-12pm Coalville Christ Church

2:30-5pm Lutterworth Town Hall

and they would be very happy to talk to anyone who wants to drop in and volunteer.

If you would like to volunteer for the project, or just want further information, please contact Dr. Turi King on

Dr. Turi King E-mail: surnames@le.ac.uk

Dr. Turi King's website: http://www.le.ac.uk/users/tek2/tek2.html

Website for People of the British Isles project: www.peopleofthebritishisles.org

People of the British Isles Project, Oxford University

Dr Bruce Winney is available on 01865 617 007

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Leicester

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