Genetic Information on Major Diseases Uncovered

gollum123 writes "A major advance in the genetic understanding behind several of the world's most common diseases is being reported by the BBC. A study tested some 17,000 people to find genetic markers for the various diseases. 'They found new genetic variants for depression, Crohn's disease, coronary heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 and 2 diabetes. The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) involved 50 leading research groups analyzing the DNA from 2,000 patients for each of the seven conditions and 3,000 healthy volunteers. One of the most exciting finds was a previously unknown gene common to type 1 diabetes and Crohn's disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disorder, suggesting that they share similar biological pathways.' There is also disease by disease data at the BBC."

Comments

Humanity be careful what you do with this..

[N3WBI3]

Whenever there is a great leap forward in our understanding there are those who would turn to eugenics. In england a doctor performing sex selection abortion is now trying to get permission for a severe squint and has said he believes ever hair color is a fair reason to terminate a pregnancy (on the basis they might be mocked and that could cause them mental distress).

Information, knowledge good! what we do with it, usually not so good.

Re:Humanity be careful what you do with this..

[plague3106]

I'm sure that most level-headed people would agree that actually terminating a pregnancy due to very small unfavorable genetic traits such as those you mentioned is completely wrong.

I would argue that most level-headed people would not be interfering with the private affairs of others, especially when what those others do does not affect them.

Re:Humanity be careful what you do with this..

[mikewolf]

well, you can personally affect your driving record through your own actions. you cannot change your genetic makeup (yet), just like you can't change your parents... Insurance companies don't currently (and might not be legally able to) not insure you based on your family history of disease, although that can be a pretty legitimate way for them to estimate what your cost to them over your lifetime will be.

The answer is really to not have private health care, b/c in reality it will always be in a corporation's interest to provide you the minimum amount of care to keep you healthy, charge you the most amount of money they can, and pay the least amount they can to the care provider. sometimes that means charging the consumer more than they need to pay, sometimes that means paying the doctors less than they charge, the point is that a profit driven health car system is not going to provide people with the best care, it will provide them with the most profitalble care... anyways, thats a little off topic...

Given the % difference between us and Apes..

[jshriverWVU]

I wonder how big the permutation is for the difference for humans and our close cousins. Such a number would in theory give very combination for every person possible. This could be useful for grouping and identifying certain sequences when we find matches with a group of people who have a common disease. Once we find common sequences we can start work on gene therapy.

Re:Good old Slashdot.

[TripMaster Monkey]

Take off your blinders for once.

If you disagree with the arguments posed, by all means dispute them. But don't just dismiss them out of hand, with a snarky "tinfoil hat" comment.

Re:Now everyone has a pre-existing condition

[vorpal22]

Why is it that people expect premium health care when they can't afford premium food, cars, clothes, or a big-screen TV?

Nobody needs premium food, cars, clothes, or entertainment. If you can afford it, enjoy it, but you can certainly live your life without it.

In my opinion, everyone should have access to the best health care possible, however: this is not only in the best interests of the individual, but in the best interests of society, where a healthy population is more productive, happy, and indicative of the success of your country. Why should the rich have better medical benefits granted unto them? Is a CEO of a major corporation who rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year more important than a researcher who is paid much, much less but makes important contributions to medicine, and thus entitled to a prompter, higher quality of treatment?

The US attitude that you should be able to buy better medical care baffles my mind. Then again, I'm a Canadian, so I was raised with an entirely different mentality. Furthermore, I have Crohn's Disease and am currently seriously ill (I have been for a few months as my doctors try to figure out a treatment that functions for me). With constant fevers of 101 F+ and crippling pain, I am for now unable to work: fortunately, I don't have the added stress of medical bills or even the worry that I could be completely denied treatment because of no group insurance coverage. There is no insurance company that would willingly agree to take me on as a client as my medications cost about $400 / month, and some Crohn's patients run up around $100k / year for a disease whose cause is largely unknown and is thus completely out of our control.

Re:Definition of discrimination?

[ArcherB]

Yes, if I am shopping for insurance that will give me a huge discount for having perfect eyes. The insurance would be to protect me if something really out of the blue happens or I suffer from a currently undiagnosed illness.

And the bolded part is the key. Just because you are genetically inclined to have a disease, you may never get it or it may be 100% treatable. For example, genetically, I'm too blind to drive. I wore glasses for years and had the eye surgery about a year and a half ago. My vision is now better than 20/20, uncorrected. However, a genetic scan will still show that I'm blind as a bat. Just as someone with the gene for diabetes may never show any symptoms because the eat an Atkins diet and exercise regularly. It would be discrimination to charge that person higher rates. Another example would be that black people are more likely to suffer from cycle cell anemia. Statistics also show that black people are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods than say Asians. In poor neighborhoods, statistics show that you are more likely to "get a cap in your ass". Should black people pay higher rates? Good luck getting that past the ensuing lawsuits.