PERSONALISED drugs and diet plans could virtually eradicate cancer and heart disease within 20 years, experts said today.
Researchers at Trinity College in Dublin are developing a new genetic test for the diseases which can effectively block their spread through the body.
They have discovered several of the genetic interactions within our DNA that cause a wide range of diseases to be triggered. By blocking these interactions using a combination of diet and drugs, they say the diseases could be stopped.
Dr Suzanne Norris, of Trinity College, who led the research, said: "This could lead to a reliable way to assess an individual’s risk of diseases, everything from diabetes and arthritis to heart disease and cancer.
"And, of course, most importantly, once we know what genetic pathways and interactions cause the diseases to occur we can block them and effectively eradicate the chances of that individual developing them."
Researchers have long known many people are genetically predisposed to certain conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. However, the study is the first to examine how these abnormalities work with other genes in our DNA to trigger the onset of disease.
"Just because you have a gene that makes you susceptible to something like diabetes does not necessarily mean you will go on to develop the disease.
"We now believe that this is down to the interaction of several jeans in the body not just one as previously thought."
The new test would allow people who believe they have a family history of heart disease, for instance, to be screened to see if they have inherited genes that would leave them more predisposed to the disease. The test being developed by the Dublin researchers could predict a way this gene would interact with others to trigger the onset of heart disease. A drug or diet plan could then be created to block that interaction.
Researchers say they have already made breakthroughs in treating some genetic diseases.
The team’s latest study to be presented today at the British Association Festival of Science in Dublin, focussed on the genetic abnormality that leads to iron deficiencies and which can lead to arthritis and diabetes.
