Events

Does Genetics Matter? Help, Hype and the New Horizon of Epigenetics

Progress Educational Trust
Clifford Chance, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ, UK
18 November 2009 - 9.30am-5pm

The 2009 annual conference of the charity that publishes BioNews, the Progress Educational Trust (PET), supported by the Medical Research Council and Clifford Chance.

As genetics vies with stem cells for centre stage in human biomedical research, there are dangers of both overselling future benefits (for example, the power of personal genomics) and overlooking past triumphs (for example, help for families threatened by serious monogenic/Mendelian disease). PET's 2009 annual conference provided a critical examination of the current state of play in human genetics. It was the first public event to address epigenetics before a mixed lay and specialist audience, and it featured exciting new insights into the epigenetic capture of early developmental experience and how this might explain the link between fetal/childhood adversity and later risk of adult disease.

• 9.30am-10am: Registration

• 10am-10.10am: Introduction to the conference

  Does Genetics Matter? Help, Hype and the New Horizon of Epigenetics

  Marcus Pembrey (Chair of the Progress Educational Trust and Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Genetics at University College London's Institute of Child Health)

• 10.10am-11.15am: Session 1

  Families with Monogenic Disease

  Monogenic diseases showing Mendelian patterns of inheritance are rare when considered individually, but taken in the aggregate they affect a significant minority of the population. This proportion only increases when one considers family members, who may not suffer directly from monogenic diseases, but fear developing them or transmitting them to their offspring. Families benefit greatly from accurate genetic diagnosis, counselling, carrier testing and the offer of prenatal or preimplantation genetic diagnosis, all of which are now possible as a result of genetic research including completion of the Human Genome Project. The timescale for developing effective gene therapy has been exaggerated, but there is progress.

  Introductions (followed by contributions from the floor):

  The importance of information (Dian Donnai, Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Manchester)

  Progress in gene therapy (Adrian Thrasher, Professor of Paediatric Immunology and Director of the Centre for Immunodeficiency at University College London's Institute of Child Health)

  A winning candidate gene for eczema and allergic asthma (Irwin McLean, Professor of Human Genetics and Head of Molecular Medicine at the University of Dundee)

  Chair:

  Dr Christine Patch (Chair of the British Society for Human Genetics and Consultant Genetic Counsellor and Manager at Guy's Hospital)

• 11.15am-11.45am: Refreshments

• 11.45am-1.15pm: Session 2

  Genetic Susceptibility to Common Complex Disorders

  The most popular approach to genetic studies of common complex disorders such as diabetes and coronary artery disease has been the genome-wide association study. This involves examining the entire genome without a specific hypothesis in mind, merely looking for replicable associations between genetic variation and a given disorder. This approach has identified many genetic variants that are a demonstrable factor in the risk of inheriting a particular complex disorder, but variants identified in this way tend only to account for a small proportion of the heritable component of such disorders. Does 'missing heritability' suggest that the genetic component of common complex disorders has been overestimated?

  Introductions (followed by contributions from the floor):

  What exactly have we learned from genome wide association studies? (Mark McCarthy, Professor of Diabetic Medicine at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism and Head of the McCarthy Group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics)

  'Common genes for common diseases' - or not? (Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics and Head of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London)

  Evaluation and regulation of personal genomics (David Melzer, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Peninsula Medical School and visiting scientist at the Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry at the US National Institute on Ageing)

  The future of personal genomics (John Burn, Professor of Clinical Genetics and Head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University)

  Chair:

  Steve Humphries (Professor of Cardiovascular Genetics and Director of the Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics at University College London)

• 1.15pm-2.15pm: Lunch

• 2.15pm-3.30pm: Session 3

  Epigenetics: Responding to Life by Switching Genes On and Off

  Does the genome-wide association study's focus on DNA differences overlook the dynamic, responsive aspects of genes in action? Not all genes are active in all tissues all of the time. They are activated or silenced according to the needs of particular cells or the whole organism during development, and in response to the prevailing nutritional, physical or social environment throughout early life. There is short-term regulation of gene activity, and there are enduring changes in gene activity during growth and development that help shape an individual's constitution and future health. Epigenetics is the study of these enduring patterns of gene activity across the genome, and what triggers them.

  Introductions (followed by contributions from the floor):

  The influence of parents: epigenetics and genetic imprinting (Karen Temple, Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Southampton)

  Beyond A, C, G and T: epigenetics and psychiatric disorders (Dr Jonathan Mill, Lecturer in Psychiatric Epigenetics at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry)

  Epigenetics and early life experience (Marcus Pembrey, Chair of the Progress Educational Trust and Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Genetics at University College London's Institute of Child Health)

  Chair:

  Dian Donnai (Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Manchester)

• 3.30pm-4pm: Refreshments

• 4pm-5pm: Session 4

  So Are We Making Progress?

  The conference concluded with a discussion that recapitulated points from earlier sessions, and asked what all of this will mean in practice. Will 'genetic determinism' be replaced by 'epigenetic determinism', and become yet another thing to blame one's parents for? Or will discoveries of the molecular mechanisms underlying the interplay between inheritance and the prevailing environment during development lead to a more nuanced understanding of nature and nurture?

  Chair:

  John Burn (Professor of Clinical Genetics and Head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University)

• Related readings:

  Research into the epigenetic impact of assisted conception by Professor Marcus Pembrey

  The new epigenetics by Professor Marilyn Monk

  Families with monogenic disease by Rosie Beauchamp

  Genetic susceptibility to common complex disorders by Antony Blackburn-Starza

  Epigenetics: responding to life by switching genes on and off by Dr Aarathi Prasad

  So are we making progress? by MacKenna Roberts

  From 'Genomic Medicine' to the new horizon of epigenetics by Sandy Starr

  What role might epigenetics have in shaping a person's development? by Professor Marcus Pembrey

  Not your child's biological parent? You may still have an influence on their genes by Olivia Montuschi

  Revealed at last: the epigenome by Will Fletcher

Find out more about genetics in The Rough Guide to Genes and Cloning, coauthored by BioNews Contributing Editor Dr Jess Buxton (buy this book from Amazon UK or Amazon USA); and find out more about fertility/embryology regulation in Human Fertilisation and Embryology: Reproducing Regulation, coedited by BioNews Reproduction Editor Dr Kirsty Horsey (buy this book from Amazon UK or Amazon USA).

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