British scientists are launching the world’s largest research project to unlock the genetic clues to a debilitating, poorly understood condition affecting 250,000 people in the UK and leaving many bedridden.
The £3.2 million DecodeME programme aims to identify the minute differences in DNA that put people at risk of developing myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. The study will recruit 20,000 patients to submit DNA “spit and post” samples and potentially pave the way for the first tests and treatments for an illness which is hard to diagnose and has no cure.
Similar genome-wide association studies have been vital to understanding the roots of other diseases including Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes. The project, launched today, is being publicly funded by the
