Westray’s BRCA1 gene variant the ‘tip of the iceberg’

September 6, 2024 at 9:56 am

Professor Jim Flett Wilson’s talk at the Orkney International Science Festival will be bringing residents up-to-date with the findings of the Viking Genes study.

Genetic screening of people with Orkney and Shetland ancestry is needed, according to an Orcadian scientist, whose work has led to the discovery of eight new disease-causing variants.

Professor Jim Flett Wilson is one of the scientists behind the discovery of a BRCA1 gene variant in Westray, announced last year, and a BRCA2 variant in Whalsay, Shetland — both of which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Now, further research has led the geneticist to think that the Westray revelation was “the tip of the iceberg.”

Read more in this week’s The Orcadian.