Isolates. Last week, the FinnGen biobank went live, and Nature dedicated an entire issue to the launch of this initiative. In brief, FinnGen is a large Finnish research project providing genomic and clinical data from a Finnish biobank with the aim to provide new insights into human disease. Finland is an isolated population, which offers unique insights into the role of rare variants in disease. When I checked the FinnGen database for association with SCN1A, I was surprised that three missense variants have been associated with various diseases. Here is what a founder population can tell us about the various roles of SCN1A in human disease. Continue reading
Tag Archives: type 2 diabetes
The age of mega-genomics, type 2 diabetes, and protective variants in SLC30A8
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
