The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7456 p699
16 June 2007

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Research reveals common disease genes

UK researchers from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium have used genome-wide association (GWA) — an evolving study technique — to identify genes involved in particular human diseases (Nature 2007;447:661). Case-control comparison (including 16,179 individuals) revealed 24 “independent association signals” for bipolar disorder (1), coronary artery disease (1), Crohn’s disease (9), rheumatoid arthritis (3), type 1 diabetes (7) and type 2 diabetes (3), almost all of which, the authors say, “reflect genuine susceptibility effects”.

The authors say that their findings inform understanding of the genetic basis of the diseases investigated and provide methodological insights relevant to future GWA work. “A simple but important observation is that GWA analysis provides a highly effective approach for exploring the genetic underpinnings of common familial diseases,” they add.