| June
7, 2007--The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium,
the largest-ever study of the genetics behind common
diseases, has published its results in Nature
and Nature Genetics.
The study has found “more than ten genes that predispose
to common diseases,” according to a press release from
the Wellcome Trust. The
release also reported that “Many of these genes that
have been found are in areas of the genome not previously
thought to have been related to the diseases.”
The
researchers scanned for half a million genetic variants in
17,000 people from across the UK. The project involved 50
leading research groups and 200 scientists from dozens of
UK institutions. The researchers were looking for
variations linked to common diseases, including bipolar
disorder, Crohn’s disease, diabetes (types 1 and 2),
hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and coronary heart
disease.
Key findings included
four chromosome regions containing genes linked to type 1
diabetes, three new genes for Crohn's disease, and a gene
(PTPN2) linking
these two autoimmune diseases. The study also confirmed
the importance of autophagy, or self-eating, in the
development of Crohn's disease.
For
more, see Wellcome
Trust release and The
Guardian. |
