Genetic markers for major diseases affecting aging health identified
A major advance in understanding the genetics behind several of the world’s most common diseases has been reported. The landmark Wellcome Trust study analysed DNA from the blood of 17,000 people to find genetic differences. They found new genetic variants for depression, Crohn’s disease, coronary heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 and 2 diabetes. The remarkable findings, published in Nature, have been hailed as a new chapter in medical science. It is hoped they will pave the way for research into new treatments and genetic tests. By identifying the genes underlying these conditions, our study should enable scientists to understand better how disease occurs, which people are most at risk and, in time, to produce more effective, more personalised treatments. The £9m Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) involved 50 leading research groups analysing the DNA from 2,000 patients for each of the seven conditions and 3,000 healthy volunteers. They used “gene chips” to scan hundreds of thousands of DNA markers to identify common genetic differences across the whole genome. Many of the genes identified by the team of 200 scientists were in parts of the genome not previously thought to be associated with disease.