ot in bbc: scientists find gene clue for flu mystery - IFITM3 polymorphism

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Edinburgh scientists find gene clue for flu mystery.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17481594>

Scientists have discovered a gene which may make some people more

susceptible to flu.

The gene was found by Edinburgh University researchers working with the

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge.

It may explain why apparently healthy people have needed intensive care

after contracting swine flu, while others were unaware they had been

infected.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature.

An analysis of the DNA of 60 patients in intensive care with flu

revealed an unusually high number with a variant in a gene called IFITM3.

This gene produced a protein which hinders the spread of the flu virus

in the lungs. The variant in this gene means less protein is produced

and the flu virus can spread more easily.

Although the genetic variation is normally rare, it was 19-times more

common than expected in people who needed hospital treatment....