Latest Genome-wide association study Stories

Two papers that will appear in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, both receiving advance online release, may help identify gene variants that contribute to the risks of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette syndrome (TS). Both multi-institutional studies were led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, and both are the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the largest groups of individuals affected by the conditions. "Previous studies of these...

Largest Genome-Wide Association Study to Date on Hypothyroidism Conducted Includes Genetic Associations Common to Autoimmune Diseases Using its unique online research platform, 23andMe, a leading personal genetics company, has found five significant genetic associations for hypothyroidism in the largest known genome-wide association study of hypothyroidism conducted to date. The details of the study are now available online in the journal PLoS ONE. “With nearly 90 percent of our...

Wearing shoes and genomics are tied together in strategy to eliminate podoconiosis Farmers in the highlands of southern Ethiopia scratch out a subsistence living from the region's volcanic red clay. The soil supports the farms, but fine-grained, volcanic rock particles in the dirt threaten the farmers and their families. Continual exposure of bare feet to the volcanic soil causes 1 in 20 people to develop a painful inflammation of the lower extremities that, over time, leads to foot...

Human geneticists have long debated whether the genetic risk of the most common medical conditions derive from many rare mutations, each conferring a high degree of risk in different people, or common differences throughout the genome that modestly influence risk. A new study by Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers has harnessed data and new analysis tools to address this question in four common diseases: rheumatoid arthritis; celiac disease; coronary artery disease and...

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues from 11 other institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom have used two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) - one from the U.S. and one from the U.K. - to detect a novel set of genes found to be associated with epithelial ovarian cancer patient survival. The discovery could open the door to new therapies for treating epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the most lethal kind of gynecologic malignancy. The study appeared in a...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 23andMe, a leader in personal genetics, has released its second annual list of what it thinks are the 10 most interesting and significant genetic findings in 2011, as part of an ongoing journey to understand the role of genetics in personal health and human development. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110107/NY26598LOGO ) "The genetics revolution is well underway and 2011 had some amazing developments," stated Anne...

The first-ever published whole-genome sequences of not just one, but two supercentenarians, aged more than 114 years, reveal that both unusual and common genetic phenomena contribute to the genetic background of extreme human longevity. Data from the study -- led by researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and Boston Medical Center -- will be available to researchers around the world at the NIH data repository. In the study, published Jan. 3 in the...

Singapore and China scientists, headed by Dr Liu Jianjun, Senior Group Leader and Associate Director of Human Genetics at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Dr Gu Jieruo, a rheumatologist at the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of the Sun Yat-Sen University, have identified new genes that are associated with the spine disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This discovery, reported in the advanced online issue of Nature Genetics on 4 December 2011, brings scientists closer to understanding the...

Genome-wide study into new gene functions in the formation of platelets In a study into the genetics of blood cell formation, researchers have identified 68 regions of the genome that affect the size and number of platelets. Platelets are small cells that circulate in the blood and are key to the processes of blood clotting and wound healing. In this genome-wide study, the team used a multidisciplinary approach to successfully identify new genetic variants involved in the formation of...