Sunday, April 29, 2007

More Than DeCODE found!!

In one of the most comprehensive evaluations of diabetes risk genes "researchers from the University of Michigan, the National Human Genome Research Institute, the University of Southern California, the University of North Carolina, and Finland's National Health Institute, have identified at least four new genetic variants associated with increased risk of diabetes and confirmed existence of another six.

The findings will be posted today in the online edition of the journal
Science" This news was in Medical News Today. The findings include several genes which were not found by the DeCODE company. The Science papers confirmed six other genetic regions that others had previously identified as having a connection to type 2 diabetes.
Kári Stefánsson, the chief executive officer of deCODE, notes that a smaller sample size may help explain why his team didn't report two of the three new variants found by the three groups that pooled their data.
The story is not over for diabetes. I will maintain that any genetic testing being offered to the public right now is premature. We have replication studies. But what is really needed is analysis of a risk panel.

Dave Altshuler quoted in
Science Now and the Gene Sherpa agree :"The findings are just the beginning of what GWA studies will accomplish, notes David Altshuler, the director of the program in medical and population genetics at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who helped lead one of the teams reporting results today. The next step is to sequence these regions and confirm the relevant genes. Figuring out how they work "is going to take great creativity and insight," says Altshuler, as will determining how and when to apply the results to patients." So would I run out to take the Direct to Consumer TCF7L2 test?...NO. It likely will just confuse the situation.

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