DNA of 'an entire nation' assessed By James Gallagher 26 March 2015

The genetic code of "an entire nation" has effectively been deduced, say researchers in Iceland.

The feat was performed by combining DNA data with family trees. The team say they could now find every woman at high-risk of breast cancer "at the touch of a button" and it would be "criminal" not to use the information.

The reports,published in the journal Nature Genetics, used the data to make a suite of discoveries including the age of the last common ancestor of men.

DNA is passed from one generation to the next. If you knew everything about the DNA of a child and their grandparents, you could figure out a lot about about the DNA of the parents too.

ThedeCODE geneticsteam has taken the whole genome sequence of 10,000 people and combined it with nation-wide family trees. "By using these tricks we can predict, with substantial accuracy, the genome of the entire nation," the chief executive of deCODE, Dr Kari Stefansson told the BBC News website.

Medicine

Mutations in the BRCA genes lead to a much higher lifetime risk of cancer and led the Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie to have her breasts and ovaries removed. Dr Stefansson argued: "We could, in Iceland, at the push of a button find all women who carry mutations in the BRCA2 gene.

"This risk could basically be nullified by preventative mastectomies and ovariectomies. It would be criminal not to take advantage of it and I am convinced that my fellow countrymen will begin to use it pretty soon."

The data is all anonymous at the moment. Using such data in medicine would raise ethical issues, including identifying deadly disease genes in people who never volunteered their own DNA for study. Dr Stefansson says there is a lot of debate still to come "but I'm just an old-fashioned physician, my gut instinct is simply to go to these people and warn them". He is already in discussions with the Icelandic healthcare system.

Elegant

The 100,000 genomes project in England and President Obama's Precision Medicine Initiative both aim to use such genetic information to revolutionise medicine.

Professor Mark Caulfield, the chief scientist at Genomics England, said the studies were "very interesting" and "very elegant". He told the BBC: "The team in Iceland is to be congratulated as it has continued, over many years, to contribute to an understanding of the genetic information of disease by looking at the level of the population."

He said the progress being made around the world showed: "We are on the cusp on the application of transformative genomic medicine at scale" However, he cautioned that there were many types of BRCA2 mutation and it was important to be certain they were relevant before informing women.

Common dad

The project made a series of other discoveries including a new gene linked to Alzheimer's disease. The team has calculated a new estimate for the last common ancestor of all men by looking at the rate of mutation in the male Y-chromosomeThey believe the last common ancestor was 239,000 years ago - down from a previous estimate of 308,000 years ago. They discovered that in Iceland that 8% of the population is missing all copies of a gene.

This could be harmful, beneficial or have no impact at all. The Icelandic group is starting a study to assess the health of these people.

Dr Susan Wallace, who worked with the Nuffield Council of Bioethicson a report on the use of biomedical data, said: "It sounds like a very exciting study and could bring health benefits to people.

"The concerns are that the data is going to be made public, anonymity technically promises protection, but you can be re-identified in datasets. "There are also concerns of commercial interests in the use of these databases, so there are a lot of concerns that need to be addressed.

"There needs to be more engagement I think."

Office workers 'too sedentary'

By James GallagherHealth editor, BBC News website 27 March 2015

Office workers need to get off their backsides and move around more, according to a new campaign. On Your Feet Britain says sitting for long periods at work is linked to a host of health problems, which are not undone by working out in the gym.It is calling on people to stand regularly, walk around more and embrace ideas such as standing meetings or standing desks.

Experts described inactivity as "one of the biggest" challenges in health. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers and poor mental health have allbeen linked to sedentary behaviour. The effect is found even in people who class themselves as fit, such as those who cycle to work, if they also spend long periods of time sitting.

Prolonged sitting is thought to slow the metabolism and affect the way the body controls sugar levels, blood pressure and the breakdown of fat. The campaign is a partnership between the group Get Britain Standing and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) charity.

Their survey of 2,000 office workers suggested:

§  45% of women and 37% of men spend less than 30 minutes a day up on their feet at work

§  More than half regularly eat their lunch at their desk

§  78% office workers felt they spent too much time sitting down

§  Nearly two-thirds were worried sitting at work was having a negative impact on their health

Gavin Bradley, from Get Britain Standing, told the BBC News website: "We're all victims of our environment, we've taken a lot of activity out of the workplace and we're sitting longer and longer. "We need new and innovative ways of addressing the issue. "Stand up when you're on the phone or in meetings, do everything you can to avoid sitting."

Office inactivity

5.2lb(2.4kg)

estimated amount of weight that can be lost by standing up for an extra 30 minutes a day for a year

·  37%of men spend less than 30 minutes a day up on their feet at work

·  45%of women spend less than 30 minutes a day up on their feet at work

·  50%regularly eat their lunch at their desk

Source: Get Britain Standing and British Heart FoundationGetty Images

Other ideas including using the stairs instead of a lift, eating lunch away from your desk, taking a break from your computer every 30 minutes and walking to a colleague's desk rather than phoning or emailing them. Get Britain Standing says standing burns an extra 50 calories per hour than being seated.

Dr Mike Loosemore, head of exercise medicine at University College Hospital, told the BBC: "Inactivity and sedentary behaviour is one of the biggest challenges we have in public health today. "Compared with 100 years ago, our levels of activity are tiny, the number of manual jobs are continually reducing, even if you dig a road up you sit in a little tractor.

"It's about changing attitudes to how people behave at work and changing the culture of the workplace that just means moving around at little bit more, even just standing up can make a big difference to calories burned and how alert, creative and productive you are."

Lisa Young, project manager for the BHF's Health at Work programme, said: "We're all guilty of being too glued to our screens sometimes, but these results show just how far the couch potato culture has infiltrated the workplace.

"Too many of us are tied to our desks at work, which could be increasing our risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

"That's why we want workers to get up and get moving on 24 April and take a stand against cardiovascular disease.

"A bit of healthy competition in the workplace could go a long way to reversing this trend whilst raising vital funds for our ground-breaking research."