May 24, 2012
Crohn’s disease develops when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own gut cells. Although most people with European ancestry are pretty genetically similar, some sub-groups like Ashkenazi Jews have distinct genetic characteristics that carry important implications for health. For instance, [...]
May 22, 2012
Ashkenazi Jews are one group that fall under the umbrella of “European”, but it’s clear from numerous studies that they’re genetically unique and distinct from the European population at large. Most people with Ashkenazi ancestry trace their DNA to Eastern and Central Europe, but also have Middle [...]
September 8, 2011
By Bethann Hromatka Autoimmune diseases are caused by an overactive immune system. In these diseases, white blood cells, which normally help your body fight infections, ramp up and attack your own cells and organs. These disorders can be very debilitating and are relatively common, affecting roughly 1 in [...]
February 8, 2011
Imagine if the simple act of eating triggered your immune system to mistakenly mount an attack inside your own body. Nearly three million people with Crohn’s or celiac disease face this distinct possibility every day in the United States, and they quickly learn that specific foods lead to a debilitating [...]
December 16, 2009
Leprosy is a chronic, disabling disease caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium leprae) that infects only humans and armadillos. The disease affects the skin and peripheral nerves, leading to sores, numbness in the limbs, muscle weakness, and, in severe cases, disfiguring nodules on the skin. Known since [...]
June 23, 2009
Genomewide association studies have had some success in finding DNA variants associated with increased risk for bipolar disorder. But researchers from the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics at Cardiff University in England have taken these studies a step further by looking for common [...]
March 6, 2009
Throughout the course of human evolution, there have been plenty of firsts. Small changes in our genetic code have laid the groundwork for our bipedal gait, our large brains, and our ability to speak complex languages. There are countless genes throughout the human genome that distinguish us from our [...]
February 26, 2009
Genome wide association (GWA) studies of SNPs are helping scientists learn about the underlying biology of many complex diseases. But even the most enthusiastic proponents of this relatively new type of research admit that many studies simply can’t find genetic variations that have real, but very small, [...]
October 23, 2008
In the year 1831, two very important events happened to 22 year-old biologist Charles Darwin. The first was that he boarded the Beagle, a research vessel upon which he would embark on a five-year journey to Central and South America. There he would collect mountains of data on hundreds of plant and animal [...]
August 25, 2008
Just about every week a new genome-wide association study links common variations in the genome to some disease. But only rarely do the authors of these studies have more than a guess of why these SNPs are associated with a particular condition. On Sunday in the online edition of Nature Genetics, [...]
