In the first ever sequencing of twin genomes, researchers searched deep into the genetics of multiple sclerosis, coupling DNA sequencing with a panoramic look at the regulation and expression of genes, only to come up empty-handed. "It's really a tour de force," said linkurl:Eric Topol,;http://www.scripps.edu/research/faculty.php?rec_id=23654 director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, who was not involved in the research. "It's a fascinating study. It's sobering that they didn't find obvious [genetic factors]."
The study, published this week in Nature, included three pairs of identical twins, two female pairs and one male, in which one had multiple sclerosis (MS) and the other did not. No one knows the cause of MS. Some evidence points to a genetic root of the neurodegenerative disorder: In thirty percent of identical twins where one has MS, so does the other. Changes to the human leukocyte antigen...
Image: National Institute of
General Medical Sciences
S.E. Baranzini et al., "Genome, epigenome and RNA sequences of monozygotic twins discordant for multiple sclerosis," Nature 464(29):1351-6, 2010.
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