Research Highlight of the Year: Exploring the genetics of osteoarthritis
Using genes from nearly 2 million people to better understand the biology of osteoarthritis
Largest-ever osteoarthritis genetics study points to new drug targets and personalised care.
Researchers from the arcoGEN consortium have been involved in the largest-ever study on osteoarthritis using genetic data from nearly two million people. They found over 950 genetic links to osteoarthritis, uncovering 8 different underlying disease processes.
“This work represented a massive international collaboration between 87 different research groups, sharing their data to try to understand why people get arthritis and how the disease actually develops.”
Their groundbreaking findings could help to understand osteoarthritis better, showing new drug targets and paving the way for better and more personalised treatments.
A large part of this work was carried out by the arcoGEN consortium, which was funded by Arthritis UK.
Research highlights
Researching how socioeconomic inequalities can impact musculoskeletal pain and primary care.
Find out moreUsing immune cell health to track disease activity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Find out moreDeveloping an osteoarthritis peer support intervention to help people facing socioeconomic disadvantage.
Find out more