Those changes are caused by alterations in DNA sequences, Lifton said. CuraGen identified a large number of common inherited variants that are not scattered randomly throughout chromosomes, but instead are in expressed genes themselves, said Lifton, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute . They give researchers a detailed road map to pinpoint the causes of disease. Most genetic researchers agree. But genetic experts stress that significant work remains to be done before the discovery has any influence in the real world.
Humans are good at technology, but biology is a much sloppier system than technology.
Humans weren t designed by engineers, they were designed by natural selection. The findings could potentially lead, in the long run, to diseased genes or susceptibilities that react with other things like diet. In other words, some individuals may have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, for example, but their lifestyle will decide whether or not they actually contract the disease. Of the estimated 200,000 SNPs in the human genome that can be coded, only about 5,000 had been identified before now. CuraGen achieved its results with a proprietary SeqCalling system that helps researchers build databases of gene sequences.