Second faulty cancer gene discovered on Shetland island

Scientists have traced a gene which can increase the risk of certain types of cancer back to a family living in 18th century Shetland.

Geneticists believe the gene was introduced by a family living on the island of Whalsay before 1750.

The island is situated to the east of the Shetland mainland, and is home to around 1,000 people.

Testing can be requested by people with at least one Whalsay grandparent and who have been affected by breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, or seen a close relative affected.

Christine Glaser from Lerwick is one of those who has been affected by the gene.

Last July she learned she was carrying a BRCA 2 gene variant that increased her risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

The news came as a shock, in part because the result came from a test Christine, 66, had taken almost a decade earlier.

She had been a participant in Viking Genes, a research project that looked at the genetic make up of people from the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Since those tests were taken, the understanding of the significance of certain genes has improved and last year geneticists sought special permissions to go back to those who took part in the study to ask if they wanted to know their results.

Christine was one of them.