UK scientists have identified a gene they say increases the risk of bowel cancer by 20%. Researchers from London and Edinburgh pinpointed the gene after scanning the DNA of over 30,000 people – half of whom had the disease. Writing in Nature Genetics, they estimate that half the population carry the genetic fault which is associated with one in 10 bowel cancers. However, the increased risk is too small to warrant a genetic test. In the future, as more genes associated with the condition are identified, it may be possible to design a test for a combination of genes to identify those most at risk, improving prevention and diagnosis, the researchers said. Several genes are already known to contribute to bowel cancer risk but are extremely rare among the population accounting for less than 5% of bowel cancer cases every year. But it has been estimated that genetic risk contributes to around a third of cases. DNA analysis Professor Malcolm Dunlop, from the University of Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Unit, compared the DNA of around 8,000 bowel cancer patients from North America, France and Scotland, to that of […]