Technique Traces Origins of Disease Genes in Mixed Races
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A team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Israeli Institute of Technology (Technion) in Haifa has developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in hybrid, or mixed, human populations.
The technique, called expected mutual information (EMI), determines how a set of DNA markers is likely to show the ancestral origin of locations on each chromosome. The team constructed an algorithm for the technique that selects panels of DNA markers in order to render the best picture of ancestral origin of disease genes. They then tested the algorithm to show that it is more powerful and accurate than standard algorithms that are currently used.
The result is easier identification of inherited genes that cause diseases in people of mixed races, which researchers call “population admixture.” Nephrologists, for instance, have noted that African-Americans are far more likely than Europeans to die rapidly of end-stage, progressive renal failure due to kidney disease. Many African-Americans, though, have genes that originated in Europe due to ethnic mixing. The technique helps researchers isolate the genetic causes of disease by detecting from which continent the recurrent disease genes originated.
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It’s a good bet, Templeton said, that the disease genes are highly likely to have emerged from Africa, as African-Americans have shown the tendency to die more quickly of the disease.
The technique and algorithm apply beyond this particular disease, Templeton added.
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“Our novel approach extends previous methods by incorporating knowledge on population admixture, drawing a more precise picture of the mosaic of ancestries along an individual’s genome,” said Sivan Bercovici, Templeton’s colleague at Technion and primary author of a research paper published in Genome Research.
The researchers analyzed DNA from 575 cases of African-Americans with end-stage progressive renal failure and compared it to controls that did not have the disease. They came up with a panel of approximately 2,000 genetic markers. Enough, Templeton said, “to cover the whole genome.”
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A paper discussing the technique and algorithm is published in the current issue of Genome Research 18, 661-667.
(Posted on April 15, 2008)
Comments
This is the kind of research South Africa should have done before Apartheid was repealed.Also I would like to point out that certain Red Blood Cells antigens are found more frequently in some races than others.Finding an organ donor for someone who is of mixed race ancestry might be more difficult than for a racially homogenous person.I would hope that they research how healthy mixed race people are compared to a pure bred white or black person.
Posted by Tony Soprano at 7:50 PM on April 15
The disease came from Africa???? How odd is that??? All those lovely diseases mostly started there in the first place,,,,,I wonder why???????? Anyone???
Posted by lydia at 9:26 PM on April 15
The reason so many diseases that can infect humans originate in Africa is because most of the world’s primate species are also in Africa. Different, closely-related species of primates living in close proximity to each other is a perfect environment for the breeding of disease that can jump species to humans.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 4:36 PM on April 16
Does the term Sickle Cell mean anything to these researchers or could this perhaps launch them forward in their research.
Maybe there’s something in malt liquor that harms the Kidney yet manifests only later on.
Posted by tommy at 6:30 PM on April 19