Human Genetic Variation Alters Anthrax Toxin Sensitivity
Martchenko, Candille et al., PNAS
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine show that genetic variation affecting capillary morphogenesis gene 2, or CMG2, dramatically alters toxin sensitivity in humans. In its analysis, the team reports on "a CMG2 single-nucleotide polymorphism occurring frequently in African and European populations [that they found] independently altered toxin uptake." The group goes on to suggest "testing of genomically characterized human cell populations may offer a broadly useful strategy for elucidating effects of genetic variation on infectious disease susceptibility."
We Predict a Google Genetic Map
August 11, 2008
Over at Genetic Future, Daniel MacArthur discusses the recent Lao paper from Current Biology that genotyped 2,514 people from 23 different European subpopulations. The researchers looked at 300,000 genetic markers and constructed a genetic map -- one that MacArthur says can nearly tell you your postcode. "The accuracy of the map will have been limited by the fact that the markers used in this study represent sites of common variation; data from large-scale genome sequencing will generate far, far better maps," writes MacArthur.