In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 6 ( 2017-01-03)
Abstract:
Whether a person develops a particular disease can depend on both genetic and environmental factors. Many studies have found that people of different races and ethnicities have different likelihoods of acquiring certain diseases. Race and ethnicity are social constructs; that is, they are not necessarily defined biologically. However, shared ancestry will produce genetic links between members of a group. In addition, members of an ethnic group often share a culture or environment that may influence their risk of disease. For example, the ‘Mediterranean diet’ inspired by the dietary habits of Southern Italians has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The addition of chemical groups – such as methyl groups – to DNA strands can affect the activity of nearby genes. Methylation is controlled by both genetic and environmental factors, and altered patterns of DNA methylation are seen in some diseases. It is therefore an ideal biological process to study to determine how race/ethnicity and ancestry contribute to a person’s susceptibility to disease. Galanter et al. have now studied the patterns of methylation found in the blood of 573 people from diverse Latino ethnic sub-groups. The different groups displayed significantly different patterns of methylation at hundreds of locations across the genome. Genetic ancestry explained approximately 75% of the variation in methylation between the sub-groups. In addition, the methylation patterns at DNA locations known to be affected by environmental exposures – for example, by exposure to tobacco while in the womb – were disproportionately likely to be methylated differently in different sub-groups. Now that more is known about the relative effects of race/ethnicity and genetic ancestry on methylation, the next step is to apply this knowledge to disease processes. This will help us to better understand the source of health disparities across different groups of people.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.20532.013
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2017
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
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