NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – In a pair of studies appearing online yesterday in Nature Genetics, one group of researchers identified the first systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, risk variants in a Chinese population while another group added to the growing list of lupus-associated genes in individuals of European descent.

SLE is an autoimmune disease in which an individual's antibodies recognize and attack his or her tissues. Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the disease, which is about nine times more common in women than men.