EP 119: Revolutionising drug discovery: how the Pharma Proteomics Project is combining genetic and proteomic data with Chris Whelan

The Genetics Podcast

0:00 Introduction

01:00 Chris’ background and career to date
02:10 What is the Enigma Project?

04:48 How is genetics being applied to drug discovery today and how does proteomics fit in?

09:23 When the UKBiobank Pharma Proteomics Project began and how long it took to set up

10:57 54k UK Biobank participants tested - discussion of findings

14:33 The project has carried out GWAS on nearly 3k proteins

15:18 Are there plans to scale the project and what do the team hope to discover through larger scale work?

18:10 Which areas of biology has the project provided a good insight into and which have proved more challenging

19:30 Are there projects of a similar scale where it would be possible to focus more on neuroscience?

21:31 Is reaching numbers akin to 100 million whole genomes required to fully leverage genetic data in drug discovery?

25:00 Causal or correlated? Medelian randomisation as an important tool for drawing the link from gene to protein and identifying relevant phenotypes

27:12 The causal proteins for the majority of neurological diseases are not differentially or cross sectionally changed

28:50 The future prospects of serial sampling and what is the potential value vs logistical burden

31:05 Imaging derived phenotypes: Integration of brain scan data with genetics

32:32 How well can brain organoids or other kinds of cellular systems match what’s going on in the actual brain?

35:30 The most exciting developments in the field we might see in the next couple of years

37:45 Closing remarks
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