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The One Thousand Genes You Could Live Without

Posted by samzenpus on from the stuff-you-don't-need dept.

sciencehabit writes Today researchers unveiled the largest ever set of full genomes from a single population: Iceland. The massive project, carried out by a private company in the country, deCODE genetics, has yielded new disease risk genes, insights into human evolution, and a list of more than 1000 genes that people can apparently live without. The project also serves as a model for other countries' efforts to sequence their people's DNA for research on personalized medical care, says study leader Kári Stefánsson, deCODE's CEO. For example, the United States is planning to sequence the genomes of 1 million Americans over the next few years and use the data to devise individualized treatments.

1 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. The thousand genes we don't know if are needed. by Chikungunya · · Score: 1, Troll

    If they have not yet done deletion experiments they can't say that we could "apparently" live without those genes.