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Researchers propose deep trawl of DNA to help uncover the causes of ME/CFS (Simon McG blog)

Discussion in 'ME/CFS research news' started by Simon M, Jun 26, 2019.

  1. Tom Kindlon

    Tom Kindlon Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  2. Simon M

    Simon M Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Update [to blog]:
    Eric Lander highlighted further GWAS successes at a recent lecture at the Broad Institute (which is based at Harvard and MIT).

    • Heart disease. Analysis of significant SNPs revealed that HDL-cholesterol is not protective (which explains why the $5 billion investment by the Pharma industry in drugs that increase HDL came to nothing). Instead, they reveal that triglycerides are a risk. It turns out that HDL is negatively correlated with triglycerides so the correlation of HDL with heart disease was correlation not causation.
    • Inflammatory bowel disease. 10 new significant biological pathways identified. Autophagy, where the body kills off old cells, recycling their contents, and TGF beta signalling, were identified as therapeutic targets.
    • Alzheimer’s disease. Microglia, the immune cells of the brain, have been shown to play a key role in the disease.
    • Obesity. GWAS shows that thermogenesis (where “brown fat” cells burn off fat to produce heat) is an important pathway impacting on BMI.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2019
    merylg, ukxmrv, Annamaria and 18 others like this.
  3. Sarah94

    Sarah94 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    When is the GWAS likely to happen?
     
  4. InitialConditions

    InitialConditions Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    The question is still 'Is' rather than 'When is', but if funded my guess would be from 2021 onwards, for perhaps three years.
     
    merylg, JaneL, Sarah94 and 3 others like this.

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