risk
Autism Architecture: Unrolling the Genetic Blueprint
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
We know that a combination of genetic and environmental factors influence a child’s risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is a diverse group of developmental brain conditions that disrupt language, communication, and social interaction. Still, there remain a great many unknowns, including the crucial issues of what proportion of ASD risk is due to genes and what sorts of genes are involved. Answering such questions may hold the key to expanding our understanding of the disorder—and thereby to devising better ways to help the millions of Americans whose lives are touched by ASD [1].
Last year, I shared how NIH-funded researchers had identified rare, spontaneous genetic mutations that appear to play a role in causing ASD. Now, there’s additional news to report. In the largest study of its kind to date, an international team supported by NIH recently discovered that common, inherited genetic variants, acting in tandem with each other or with rarer variants, can also set the stage for ASD—accounting for nearly half of the risk for what’s called “strictly defined autism,” the full-blown manifestation of the disorder. And, when the effects of both rare and common genetic variants are tallied up, we can now trace about 50 to 60 percent of the risk of strictly defined autism to genetic factors.
DNA Analysis Finds New Target for Diabetes Drugs
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) tends to run in families, and over the last five years the application of genomic technologies has led to discovery of more than 60 specific DNA variants that contribute to risk. My own research laboratory at NIH has played a significant role in this adventure. But this approach doesn’t just provide predictions of risk; it may also provide a path to developing new ways of treating and preventing this serious, chronic disease that affects about 26 million Americans.
In an unprecedented effort aimed at finding and validating new therapeutic targets for T2D, an international team led by NIH-funded researchers recently analyzed the DNA of about 150,000 people across five different ancestry groups. Their work uncovered a set of 12 rare mutations in the SLC30A8 gene that appear to provide powerful protection against T2D, reducing risk about 65 percent—even in the face of obesity and other risk factors for the disease [1].
Can You Spot The Health Risk?
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Nearly 3 billion people in the developing world—almost half the global population—cook food and heat their homes with traditional indoor cookstoves or open fires.
Toxic emissions from these indoor cooking fires cause low birth weights among babies; pneumonia in young children; and heart and lung problems in adults. All told, more than 2 million people die prematurely every year as a result of poorly ventilated indoor cooking fires, such as this one in India.
At the NIH, our research efforts focus on reducing the impact of existing cookstoves, while evaluating new, cleaner technologies to improve human health.
