Friday, February 18, 2005
Human genetic variation map unveiled
Source: IANS.
Image Source: DGL.Microsoft
Los Angeles, Feb 18: US scientists have unveiled the first map of common human genetic variations that could ultimately promise more effective and individualised treatments for disease-related DNA variations, Xinhua reports.
The map, which could also help speed up efforts to pinpoint disease-related DNA variations, was created by California-based Perlegen Sciences and published in Friday's issue of the journal "Science".
The research "will provide an invaluable resource for genetic research to improve human health", said Donald Kennedy, the journal's editor-in-chief.
The work is believed to have significant implications for the study of cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and many other conditions thought to result from a complex interplay of multiple genetic and environmental factors.
The mapping effort describes 1.58 million single-letter DNA variations across 71 individuals of European American, African American and Han Chinese American ancestry.
Though the human genome contains millions more single-letter variations, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), they seem to occur within patterns that have been preserved for thousands of years.
Therefore, the new mapping effort appears to capture most common human genetic variation, researchers said.
Researchers made use of the fact that two genes located closer together are far less likely to be reshuffled over generations by the biological process known as recombination.
As a result, certain patterns of variation have been preserved across human history. The presence of these patterns, known as "linkage dis-equilibrium", allowed authors to create a first picture of the structure of human genetic variation based on short- and long-range clustering of single-letter variations.
Most common DNA variations are found across all populations and likely date back to the exodus of modern humans out of Africa.
But other genetic differences may be specific to certain populations, the researchers explained.
The study thus should "provide a tool for exploring many questions remaining regarding the causal role of common human DNA variation in complex human traits and for investigating the nature of genetic variation within and between human populations", the paper said.
http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/Technology/528582d8-2f1a-4272-b479-26b504c725cf.aspx
Image Source: DGL.Microsoft
Los Angeles, Feb 18: US scientists have unveiled the first map of common human genetic variations that could ultimately promise more effective and individualised treatments for disease-related DNA variations, Xinhua reports.
The map, which could also help speed up efforts to pinpoint disease-related DNA variations, was created by California-based Perlegen Sciences and published in Friday's issue of the journal "Science".
The research "will provide an invaluable resource for genetic research to improve human health", said Donald Kennedy, the journal's editor-in-chief.
The work is believed to have significant implications for the study of cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and many other conditions thought to result from a complex interplay of multiple genetic and environmental factors.
The mapping effort describes 1.58 million single-letter DNA variations across 71 individuals of European American, African American and Han Chinese American ancestry.
Though the human genome contains millions more single-letter variations, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), they seem to occur within patterns that have been preserved for thousands of years.
Therefore, the new mapping effort appears to capture most common human genetic variation, researchers said.
Researchers made use of the fact that two genes located closer together are far less likely to be reshuffled over generations by the biological process known as recombination.
As a result, certain patterns of variation have been preserved across human history. The presence of these patterns, known as "linkage dis-equilibrium", allowed authors to create a first picture of the structure of human genetic variation based on short- and long-range clustering of single-letter variations.
Most common DNA variations are found across all populations and likely date back to the exodus of modern humans out of Africa.
But other genetic differences may be specific to certain populations, the researchers explained.
The study thus should "provide a tool for exploring many questions remaining regarding the causal role of common human DNA variation in complex human traits and for investigating the nature of genetic variation within and between human populations", the paper said.
http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/Technology/528582d8-2f1a-4272-b479-26b504c725cf.aspx
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