Ancestry Helps Map Disease Genes

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Ancestry Helps Map Disease Genes

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/101507.php

Mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium (MALD) is a powerful

approach for identifying regions of the genome that contain genes

associated with disease. This method takes advantage of differences

in disease prevalence between populations to look for patterns of

variation that are over-represented in population groups with

increased susceptibility to a particular disorder. In this research

study, scientists from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and

Washington University have developed a new technique for MALD, called

Expected Mutual Information.

" 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, " explains

primary author Sivan Bercovici.

The authors anticipate that this new method may lead to significant

advances in the ability of researchers to isolate the genetic

determinants of common diseases.

" The convergence of the novel computational technologies provided in

this manuscript with analysis and knowledge of the population genetic

architecture of special populations of interest, should greatly

facilitate design and implementation of genome-wide mapping of

susceptibility loci for clinical phenotypes of general importance in

human health and disease, " explains co-author Dr. Karl

Skorecki. " Such an implementation is already underway in a

collaboration between computer scientists, population geneticists,

and clinicians. "