The UK Whole Genome Sequencing project begins!In July 2014 the MND Association announced the news that they are funding the UK-arm of Project MinE, known as the UK Whole Genome Sequencing project.

Today, the MND Association announced that the project has officially begun, with the first batch of samples from the UK MND DNA Bank (monitored by CIGMR Biobank, University of Manchester) being sent for sequencing.

The UK Whole Genome Sequencing project, led by Prof Ammar Al-Chalabi of King’s College London, collects DNA samples for Project MinE. Project MinE aims to sequence the entire DNA of an individual (known as a genome) in order to find out more about the genetic causes of ALS. Therefore, approximately 1,700 DNA samples from UK people with the non inherited form of ALS as well as controls, will be sent from the DNA Bank in Manchester to UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands.

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