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Autoimmune Diseases And Genetics
July 19, 2004Autoimmune diseases are quite complex and this is due to the fact that these illnesses do not depend on just one gene. Thus, in order to find a suitable treatment, it is not enough to identify a gene involved in the development of the disease - each and every one has to be identified. To this end, a number of strategies have been design; for example, many geneticists have begun to analyse the genetic differences between healthy individuals and ill ones. A team at the Leioa campus of the University of the Basque Country are using this very strategy in the study of lupus - an autoimmune disease.
Differences in the markers
All of us are genetically very similar, almost the same, in fact. If two people are chosen at random, 99.9% of their genome is identical. Even so, we observe that these two persons have differences, for example, physical aspect or susceptibility to certain illnesses. Some of these differences are found in the genome markers.
The markers (single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP) are usually located at concrete points along the genome and contain information about the genes in close proximity to these. If the genome were a highway, the markers would be milestones; the genome has thousands of them.
Each one of these SNP may be represented by a letter corresponding to the marker nucleotide. There are four nucleotides in the DNA: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. A number of studies have already identified the relation between certain markers ad a number of diseases. Moreover, the markers provide a way of analysing the genome as a whole and, thereby, in the case of autoimmune illnesses, all the genes involved can be found.
In this analysis, the differences between the markers of healthy and ill people are studied. If, in a marker, adenine is normally present in both healthy and ill individuals, then it is clear that there is no difference here and this marker is not one that defines the illness. On the other hand, if thymine appears instead of adenine in the sick individuals, this marker may be related to the disease. Once these markers have been identified, the search for those genes involved begins close to these markers.
But, in order to analyse the differences between the markers, these have to be first identified. This is the work being undertaken at the Leioa campus.
Identification of markers
In order to identify the markers of an individual person, a sample of their blood is required. From this sample the individual's DNA is extracted in order to analyse the markers. There are a number of techniques available to this end but normally, depending on the nucleotide, it is visualised in one colour or another. So, depending on the colour, the nucleotide of each marker is identified.
These identifications have to be repeated until a data base of markers of healthy and ill persons is completed. Finally, with the help of computers, the markers which define the difference between both groups of individuals are established. But the work is not finished there. Given that these results still have a long road to travel to find the genes involved in the disease and to find treatment for its cure.
Elhuyar Fundazioa
The markers (single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP) are usually located at concrete points along the genome and contain information about the genes in close proximity to these. If the genome were a highway, the markers would be milestones; the genome has thousands of them.
Each one of these SNP may be represented by a letter corresponding to the marker nucleotide. There are four nucleotides in the DNA: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. A number of studies have already identified the relation between certain markers ad a number of diseases. Moreover, the markers provide a way of analysing the genome as a whole and, thereby, in the case of autoimmune illnesses, all the genes involved can be found.
In this analysis, the differences between the markers of healthy and ill people are studied. If, in a marker, adenine is normally present in both healthy and ill individuals, then it is clear that there is no difference here and this marker is not one that defines the illness. On the other hand, if thymine appears instead of adenine in the sick individuals, this marker may be related to the disease. Once these markers have been identified, the search for those genes involved begins close to these markers.
But, in order to analyse the differences between the markers, these have to be first identified. This is the work being undertaken at the Leioa campus.
Identification of markers
In order to identify the markers of an individual person, a sample of their blood is required. From this sample the individual's DNA is extracted in order to analyse the markers. There are a number of techniques available to this end but normally, depending on the nucleotide, it is visualised in one colour or another. So, depending on the colour, the nucleotide of each marker is identified.
These identifications have to be repeated until a data base of markers of healthy and ill persons is completed. Finally, with the help of computers, the markers which define the difference between both groups of individuals are established. But the work is not finished there. Given that these results still have a long road to travel to find the genes involved in the disease and to find treatment for its cure.
Elhuyar Fundazioa
Genome Current Events and Genome News RSSTime of day matters to thirsty trees, U of T researcher discovers
The time of day matters to forest trees dealing with drought, according to a new paper produced by a research team led by Professor Malcolm Campbell, University of Toronto Scarborough's vice-principal for research and colleagues in the department of cell and systems biology at the St. George campus.
Genetic analysis helps dissect molecular basis of cardiovascular disease
Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), researchers led by Daniel Chasman at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, and the PROCARDIS consortium in Stockholm, Sweden and Oxford, England performed genetic association analysis across the whole genome among 17,296 women of European ancestry from the Women's Genome Health Study.
Gene mismatch influences success of bone marrow transplants
A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
Scientists at UA, collaborating institutions decode maize genome
Scientists from the University of Arizona led by Arizona Genomics Institute director Rod A. Wing and from collaborating institutions have deciphered the complete genetic code of the maize plant for the first time.
Ancestry attracts, but love is blind
People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin colour.
WPI Researchers Take Aim at Hard-to-Treat Fungal Infections
A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections.
Technique finds gene regulatory sites without knowledge of regulators
A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors.
Causative gene of a rare disorder discovered by sequencing only protein-coding regions of genome
For the first time, scientists have successfully used a method called exome sequencing to quickly discover a previously unknown gene responsible for a mendelian disorder.
New research into the mechanisms of gene regulation
A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth.
Maize cell wall genes identified, giving boost to biofuel research
Purdue University scientists have helped identify and group the genes thought to be responsible for cell wall development in maize, an effort that expands their ability to discover ways to produce the biomass best suited for biofuels production.
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