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Tag: GWAS

Norwegians publish the biggest ME DNA study yet and show we need even bigger studies

Norwegians publish the biggest ME DNA study yet and show we need even bigger studies

A Norwegian team has published the largest analysis yet to look for DNA differences that could pinpoint what goes wrong in ME (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS). Such differences would be a first step toward finding effective treatments. Unfortunately, the new study doesn’t find any DNA differences that reach the accepted standard for statistical significance. Even so, as Professor Chris Ponting and I comment in a companion piece, their paper helps to move forward the field of ME…

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Sign up! Your support could help win funding for a game-changing ME/CFS study

Sign up! Your support could help win funding for a game-changing ME/CFS study

Researchers and patients are about to submit an application to the UK’s two big medical research funders for a 20,000-patient genetic study. The team want people with ME to sign up to show funders that the community backs the study and that large numbers of people are ready to join it. Your action today could help the world’s largest ME/CFS genetics study win funding – and could make a huge difference for patients, helping to identify biological causes of the…

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Bold plans for two big biomedical research projects

Bold plans for two big biomedical research projects

The ME/CFS Biomedical Partnership, led by Prof Chris Ponting and Dr Luis Nacul, plan a huge genetic study and a major expansion of the UK ME/CFS biobank. The partnership will give patients and their representatives a major role in planning and running the project. The genetic research, a genome-wide association study, would need to recruit 20,000 people with ME/CFS – and the researchers know they can only do with the support of the patient the community. A new research team…

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Researchers propose deep trawl of DNA to help uncover the causes of ME/CFS

Researchers propose deep trawl of DNA to help uncover the causes of ME/CFS

Analysing the DNA of thousands of patients can help to uncover the genetic roots of diseases and shed light on the underlying biological mechanisms. This can reveal targets for drug development. A new and very different type of genetic research has emerged this millennium – the genome-wide association study (GWAS, pronounced “gee-was”). By probing small genetic differences between people, such studies can help to uncover the biological roots of disease and have already helped to guide drug development. Researchers including…

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Significant association of DNA variants with self-reported ME/CFS

Significant association of DNA variants with self-reported ME/CFS

Guest blog by Professor Chris Ponting and colleagues. Summary A new analysis using data from UK Biobank indicates that one version of a particular gene increases the risk of ME/CFS in women. The gene codes for a transporter protein in the mitochondrial membrane and plays a critical role in the urea cycle, which is important for removing ammonia from the body. Reduced levels of the transporter protein, which are expected for the gene variant associated with ME/CFS, are likely to…

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Analysis of data from 500,000 individuals in UK Biobank demonstrates an inherited component to ME/CFS

Analysis of data from 500,000 individuals in UK Biobank demonstrates an inherited component to ME/CFS

Guest blog by Professor Chris Ponting and colleagues. UK Biobank – a national biobank different from the ME/CFS biobank – has data from around 500,000 individuals, including both healthy people and those with one or more of the many different diseases in the UK population. About 2,000 people in the sample reported that they had been given a diagnosis of CFS. Analysis of data from this biobank indicates an inherited biological component for ME/CFS. The results show only one statistically…

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