Britain's Labs - The Institute for Cancer Research

In the first of four programmes looking at Britain's leading laboratories, Professor Iain Stewart visits the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton in Surrey. The laboratory grew out of the Royal Marsden Hospital with which it shares a site and the two work closely together. The ICR is one of the main centres for the investigation of the genetic causes and possible cures/remedies for cancer. The effort is going into identifying the genetic drivers for the disease and then finding a way to turn these off. The work has been hugely accelerated by the completion of the Human Genome Project and by information technology which allows researchers to sift through genetic data at unprecedented speed. Iain hears about new drugs which are being developed and about how we will think differently about the nature of cancer in years to come. Producer: Susan Marling A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.