East London genome project to track down beneficial genes

Study to sequence genes of 100,000 people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities to identify genes resilient to heart disease, diabetes and cancer

Scientists are planning to sequence the genes of 100,000 south Asian people in London, in an ambitious project to track down rare beneficial genes that protect against conditions from heart disease to cancer.

The Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities in London have among the highest rates of poor health in Britain, with twice the average number of deaths from heart disease and five times the rate of type 2 diabetes. But within this population, scientists predict, there will be people who are unexpectedly healthy, whose genes could be conferring extreme resilience to disease.