Professor Dame Sue Hill: The field of genomics

“Since 1953, when DNA was discovered by Watson and Crick and supported by Franklin, the NHS had already been focusing on genetic diseases. From the 1960’s, NHS genetic labs were born. Since that time, with the initiation of the Human Genome Project, we got to understand that it was possible to sequence all 3 billion + letters - A, C, G, A T - a human genome.”

This week on The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for Genomics in NHS England.

Sue and Chris talk about how the field of genomics has gone from being a curiosity-driven science to being mainstream since we got first sight of the whole human genome 2 decades ago. They talk about the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, our recent public dialogue for genomics in newborn screening, and about predictive, preventive, personalised medicine.