Genomics and Genetics Group

From sequence to disease

Illustration of a method of DNA sequencing. Image with depth of field. Image courtesy of Getty Images

Overview

New molecular technologies have revolutionised the fields of genomics and genetics, offering great potential to deepen our understanding of human diseases. We in the Genomics and Genetics Group are working with these powerful technologies with the ultimate aim of discovery and design of new approaches for effective diagnosis, prognosis and eventual treatment. Our group comprises both computational and experimental researchers with expertise in many areas and is part of a wide network of national and international collaborations.

We are part of the Biomedical Research Group within the University of Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research (PIHR), working closely with the University of Plymouth Systems Biology Centre and are a partner in the delivery of the NHS/MSc genomics medicine of the 100 000 Genomes Project.

Our research

Microbial genomics ( Mat Upton ): Genome sequencing and sequence typing of pathogenic and drug resistant bacteria using Nanopore platform.

Molecular diagnostics ( Tracey Madgett ): Genomic sequencing to define novel blood group genotypes and support non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.
Transcriptomics (Neil Avent, Robert Belshaw, Tracey Madgett , Vasilis Lenis): Analysis of microarray and RNA-seq data and their integration with clinical data. Meta-analysis of gene expression data of diseases. Transcriptome profiling in erythroid lineage cells to define pathways of red cell senescence.