DNA lab to propel research on cancer and disease

IRELAND’S first genome sequencing laboratory is expected to release a flood of scientific knowledge about a huge range of illnesses.

The cutting-edge DNA sequencing laboratory at Trinity College Dublin will allow scientists to undertake studies in molecular biology and genetics research that, up to now, were neither technically nor economically feasible.

The Trinity Genome Sequencing Laboratory, funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), houses an Illumina Genome Analyzer II – the first “next generation DNA sequencing” platform to be set up in Ireland.

Dr Derek Morris, principal investigator in the Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group in Trinity’s Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, said the laboratory would propel forward research alreadyunder way at the college.

The new laboratory will enable research into psychiatric disorders, cancers,infectious diseases and conditions affecting the immune system.

Dr Morris said scientists had an insight into thegenetic basis of many common illnesses.

“The new platform will help us speed up the search in the genome for these diseases,” he said.

“By identifying changes in the DNA code and the proteins in the genes that are malfunctioning, we will start to understand the biology of the illness and develop new therapies,” he said.

Dr Morris said the new technology would create an avalanche of knowledge that will have the potential to improve patient care.

“The great challenge for scientists is interpreting the data and making biological sense of it to develop new therapies,” he said.

Dr Morris said a second genome sequencing laboratory has been established at University College Dublin and both universities were working closely together.

Prof Michael Gill, head of the Neuropsychiatric Genetic Research Group at TCD, said the new DNA sequencing technology would greatly accelerate the search for risk genes for schizophrenia.

He said the group would be able to sequence many genes in many patient samples to identify the subtle changes to the DNA code that results in a gene not functioning properly and contributing to the development of the illness.