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This Week in Nature: Nov 13, 2014

In Nature Genetics this week, an international team of researchers reports on the discovery of a genetic variant associated with a decreased risk of contracting typhoid fever. By conducting a genome-wide association study of 432 individuals with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever and roughly 2,000 controls, they identified a genetic variant at HLA-DRB1 that confers almost five-fold greater protection from the disease than the alternate variants of the same gene. GenomeWeb Daily News has more on this study here.

Also in Nature Genetics, a team of Swedish scientists describe a methodology for uncovering associations between somatic mutations in regulatory DNA and changes in gene expression levels in a pan-cancer setting. By mapping and analyzing somatic mutations in 505 tumor genomes across 14 cancer types, they found that mutations in TERT regulatory DNA exhibit an remarkably strong and genome-wide significant association with altered promoter activity. The strength of this association, however, was variable and strongest in copy-number stable cancers.

The Scan

Nucleotide Base Detected on Near-Earth Asteroid

Among other intriguing compounds, researchers find the nucleotide uracil, a component of RNA sequences, in samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, as they report in Nature Communications.

Clinical Trial Participants, Investigators Point to Importance of Clinical Trial Results Reporting in Canadian Study

Public reporting on clinical trial results is crucial, according to qualitative interviews with clinical trial participants, investigators, and organizers from three provinces appearing in BMJ Open.

Old Order Amish Analysis Highlights Autozygosity, Potential Ties to Blood Measures

Researchers in BMC Genomics see larger and more frequent runs-of-homozygosity in Old Order Amish participants, though only regional autozygosity coincided with two blood-based measures.

Suicidal Ideation-Linked Loci Identified Using Million Veteran Program Data

Researchers in PLOS Genetics identify risk variants within and across ancestry groups with a genome-wide association study involving veterans with or without a history of suicidal ideation.