Citizen Science: Public to join cancer cure hunt

Giants of the technology world and cancer researchers are teaming up to come up with ways to let the general public hunt for cures for cancer.

It is an attempt to mirror some of the success in unleashing the public in the hunt for objects in space.

Cancer Research UK, along with Amazon, Facebook and Google, is trying to get people to search for mutations in DNA which lead to cancer.

The data needs to be analysed by eye, but there are not enough scientists.

There has been rapid progress in working out the exact sequence of a tumour's DNA.

Combining this information from multiple tumours allows researchers to hunt for the critical mutations which turn a normal healthy part of the body into a deadly cancer.

The chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Dr Harpal Kumar, said: "We're bringing together the cream of the UK's technology specialists with our scientists as a collective force to accelerate cures for cancer outside the laboratory.

"This exciting event will provide a channel to help our scientists discover new genetic drivers of cancer that would otherwise take years to identify."

They aim to have the project up and running by the summer.