Join us to hear Professor Jack Satsangi, and Dr Elaine Nimmo, Centre talk about the latest research that is leading to new understanding of the ways in which our genes interact with our environment to cause these chronic diseases.    The chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are now common causes of ill health in the developed world, affecting between 1:100 and 1:200 of the population. In Scotland the incidence is especially high amongst children and young adults, indeed amongst the highest in the world.

It is clear that both genetic and environmental factors are involved in the disease process. Over the last 25 years the genetic factors have been increasingly well characterised and the emphasis in basic research now lies on dissecting the importance of diet, the intestinal micro-organisms, and other environmental factors in the course of disease, and the mechanisms involved in these gene-environmental interactions.