Friday, April 25, 2008

Race and gene expression

The issue is not so much differing genes, but more level of expression of given genes.

The finding that expression levels differ for hundreds of genes between people of African and European ancestry (the scientists studied 30 white families from Utah and 30 Yoruban families from Nigeria) links up with earlier observations. The researchers found differences among genes that help produce the antibodies that fight off bacterial invaders, and among genes that influence how you respond to certain drugs, they write in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Not coincidentally, perhaps, a 1980 study found that African Americans may be more susceptible to certain bacterial infections than are people of European ancestry. And a 2005 study found that individuals of European and African ancestry also differ in how they respond to anti-microbial drugs such as those used to treat gum disease.

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