Replies to post #15291 on DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[worktoplay]

mingwan0...Yes, it is fairly current, isnt' it...lol

Am J Hum Genet. 2004 May;74(5):1001-13. Epub 2004 Apr 14.

A high-density admixture map for disease gene discovery in african americans.

Smith MW, Patterson N, Lautenberger JA, Truelove AL, McDonald GJ, Waliszewska A, Kessing BD, Malasky MJ, Scafe C, Le E, De Jager PL, Mignault AA, Yi Z, De The G, Essex M, Sankale JL, Moore JH, Poku K, Phair JP, Goedert JJ, Vlahov D, Williams SM, Tishkoff SA, Winkler CA, De La Vega FM, Woodage T, Sninsky JJ, Hafler DA, Altshuler D, Gilbert DA, O'Brien SJ, Reich D.

Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA.

Admixture mapping (also known as "mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium," or MALD) provides a way of localizing genes that cause disease, in admixed ethnic groups such as African Americans, with approximately 100 times fewer markers than are required for whole-genome haplotype scans. However, it has not been possible to perform powerful scans with admixture mapping because the method requires a dense map of validated markers known to have large frequency differences between Europeans and Africans. To create such a map, we screened through databases containing approximately 450000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for which frequencies had been estimated in African and European population samples. We experimentally confirmed the frequencies of the most promising SNPs in a multiethnic panel of unrelated samples and identified 3011 as a MALD map (1.2 cM average spacing). We estimate that this map is approximately 70% informative in differentiating African versus European origins of chromosomal segments. This map provides a practical and powerful tool, which is freely available without restriction, for screening for disease genes in African American patient cohorts. The map is especially appropriate for those diseases that differ in incidence between the parental African and European populations.

And with the McKeigue collaboration, just announced, it appears we have moved on to remain that one step ahead that we have always been.

Later,
W2P

[worktoplay]

mingwan0...You remember our good buddy Stephen O'Brien, Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the NCI. Here's what he had to say just this past January 2004:

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/11/Tampabay/Race_gleaned_from_DNA.shtml

...But some genetics experts say that the test is a scam, that it couldn't possibly yield the results it claims for the price it costs and that it could be used to try to bolster racist claims.

"The company will be able to provide you with an estimate, but it won't be much better than looking at the guy," said Stephen J. O'Brien, chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Md. "I'm sure it won't have much use to the recipient..."

"...Stephen O'Brien, the National Cancer Institute laboratory chief, said there's plenty to question. He called the test a scam.

Different ethnic groups carry a "proportion" of distinctive genes, but they represent a tiny fraction of the overall variation.

"Put simply, there is 10 to 20 times more genetic differences between any two people within one race, say Caucasian, than there are between the racial groups," O'Brien said.

In theory, he said, it is possible to create such a test, but it would be quite expensive. At DNA Print Genomics' price, he said, it would have to be "woefully inaccurate."

O'Brien also said he thought the results could be used "for no good."

"You need look no further than the apartheid rules of South Africa," he said. "If that regime had quantitative estimators of ethnicity, they would have exploited these to serve a racist agenda and discrimination..."

I wonder how long it took him to get his foot out of his mouth before he signed on to participate in the MALD admixture study you referenced. LOL

Later,
W2P