Genomics - the study of all of a person's genes - has the potential to revolutionise healthcare and could lead to many new cancer treatments.
Commercial applications of genomics to cancer are expected to make up a significant part of the predicted annual $22 billion global market for genomics by 2024.
The UK has already developed the largest, high-quality whole genome database in the world through the 100,000 Genomes Project.
A public-private collaboration is investing £200 million to complete the whole genome sequencing for the 500,000 participants in the UK Biobank.
Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, has up to £5.4 million from the government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to invest in projects that seek to apply whole genome sequencing to the analysis of cancers.
This funding is part of the ISCF's £210 million Data to Early Diagnosis and Precision Medicine Challenge. The challenge aims to fund researchers and industry to combine data and real-world evidence from UK health services and create new products and services that diagnose diseases earlier and more efficiently.
