In time we will have your genome and a way to target the problem even
on the fly. In the meantime we at least know to check for ethnic
variation even more carefully than previously indicated.
I do not think this is that particularly crucial but it can explain
failure in particular cases or the need for an alternative. Well
covered disease sees us shopping anyway.
We are steadily getting better at this DNA thing.
DNA study suggests
human immunity to disease has ethnicity basis
by Staff Writers
Burnaby, British Columbia (UPI) Apr 19, 2013
Immunity to disease
may vary depending on ethnicity so designing treatments that will
work for everybody may be impossible, U.S. and Canadian researchers
say.
DNA sequencing
suggests human antibody genes and how well they operate -- and what
they can fight off -- can vary from person to person, and ethnicity
may influence immunity, a release from Simon Fraser University in
British Columbia reported.
The researchers say
the finding is based on sequencing the immensely repetitive DNA in
the human genome's 1 million nucleotide-long immunoglobulin heavy
(IGH)-chain locus -- long known as the most prolific producer of the
50-plus varied and diverse antibody-encoding genes that cells use to
fight off infections and diseases.
"Time will
confirm the extent to which this is true. But we've found that
sections of the IGH-chain locus' DNA sequence are either missing or
inserted into a person's genome, and this could vary depending on
ethnicity," Corey Watson, a postdoctoral researcher at the
Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said.
That may affect the
effectiveness of drugs, treatments and vaccinations usually designed
to treat whole populations. The researchers said the link between
antibody makeup and ethnicity surfaced when they screened the
chromosomes of 425 people of Asian, African and European descent for
several DNA insertions and deletions.
The findings "could
mean that past environmental exposures to certain pathogens caused
DNA insertions or deletions in different ethnic groups, which could
impact disease risk," Watson said. "Our results demonstrate
that antibody studies need to take into account the ethnicity of DNA
samples used."
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