Contact information
+44 (0)1865 222374
Research groups
Damien Downes
BSc (Hons), MBA Candidate, PhD (Genetics)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Deciphering Diseases of the Dark Genome
Every one of us carries a unique copy of DNA - known as the genome. Most of the differences in sequence (generally single letter variants) are benign, while others give us our distinct characteristics such as eye and hair colour. Other variants are less harmless, increaing our risk of developing diseases like diabetes and even doubling our chance of dying from COVID-19.
These "risk variants" are generally found in regions of the genome that don't make proteins, sometimes called the dark genome. My research focuses on developing methods to dechipher how risk variants cause disease, then working with collaborators to apply these methods to a range of diseases with an aim of developing new therapies and treatments.
Key publications
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Journal article
DOWNES D. et al, (2021), Nature Genetics
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Journal article
Hua P. et al, (2021), Nature, 595, 125 - 129
Recent publications
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Journal article
Truch J. et al, (2022), Nat Commun, 13
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Journal article
Downes DJ. and Hughes JR., (2022), Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet
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Journal article
COvid-19 Multi-omics Blood ATlas (COMBAT) Consortium. Electronic address: julian.knight@well.ox.ac.uk None. and COvid-19 Multi-omics Blood ATlas (COMBAT) Consortium None., (2022), Cell, 185, 916 - 938.e58
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Journal article
Owens DDG. et al, (2022), Nat Commun, 13