Multiple Sclerosis: 48 additional genetic variants found that are associated with the disease

 

Earlier in September of 2013, scientists from the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium (IMSCG) made a groundbreaking discovery that sheds more light on the neurological disease of multiple sclerosis, or MS. These scientists discovered that there are 48 additional genetic variants that affect the ability of being diagnosed with MS.

 

Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which an affected individual's immune system destroys the myelin sheath around the nerve. This deterioration of the myelin sheath causes a disturbance in the passage and reception of nerve cells throughout the body. Some of the common symptoms of MS are: blurred vision, dizziness, loss of sensation, depression, muscle spasms, numbness, and loss of coordination and/or balance. It has been found that over 2.5 million individuals suffer from MS all over the world. The inheritance of this disease is also possible; it is more likely for one to get the disease if they have other relatives that have had it as well.

 

 

The individuals of the IMSCG group used a genotyping piece of technology called the ImmunoChip. The ImmunoChip was created to determine genetic variants that are associated with certain diseases. These researchers used the ImmunoChip to study over 29,000 MS affected genomes and over 50,000 unaffected genomes. With these 48 new genetic variants that were discovered, the amount of genetic variants related to MS now equals 110. And while this seems that there was a decent amount of the disease most recently discovered and understood, the article from Science Daily says that these findings added to the older findings only accounts for about 20% of the genetic side of MS.

 

I find these findings are very important because the more researchers can break apart this disease, the more specific they can get to understand what needs to be done in order to administer some sort of relief to the affected individuals. The more these scientists understand about the molecular break down of the disease, the more likely they will be able to come up with drugs and treatment options for these individuals that suffer from multiple sclerosis. While it seems like these individuals have a long way to go in order to reach this goal, these individuals just doubled their previous knowledge just in this one experiment alone. If they continue to study and dive deeper and deeper into the molecular biology and genetics, the closer a cure for MS is most definitely in sight.

 

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130930093858.htm

http://www.stemcellmd.org/conditions-treated/neurological-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/