Sequence first. There are larger genetic studies but not too many. In a recent study in Nature Genetics, roughly 150,000 individuals were genotyped to assess the importance of rare, disruptive variants in SLC30A8 in type 2 diabetes. This genomic tour de force was made possible by available and curated databases that could be tapped to extract the necessary genetic information. Also, this study highlights some of the surprises that we can expect by mining the human genome for disease-related information. Rare, disruptive variants in SLC30A8 protect against type 2 diabetes. Let’s review why these rare, protective genetic factors might be particularly important for biomedical research and what kind of studies we need to identify them. Continue reading
Tag Archives: phenotype database
What’s in a phenotype? – the EuroEPINOMICS BENCH database
The backbone. As we have started a new round for BENCH introductory sessions with new collaborators, I thought that it might be timely to talk a little bit about our BENCH phenotype database and the concepts behind it. In addition to the purely technical aspects, there is a more fundamental question behind this: how do we want to document and store epilepsy phenotypes for research purposes, how do we find the balance between precision and efficiency? Continue reading
