Iceland's New Discovery of Disease Causing Genes

While some diseases are caused by a single mutation, other more common disease are due to a number of different genes mutations. Discovering these mutations can lead to a potential treatment plan. In Iceland, geneticists have made a discovery of a previously unknown gene mutation that may be the cause of many ailments, such as Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and gallstones. This amazing work was done by researchers at Decode. Decode is an Icelandic genetic firm that is owned by Amgen. In the study scientific analyzed 2,636 Icelanders complete DNA structure, this was the largest collection ever analyzed in a single population. With the information the scientists were able to accurately deduce the genomes of more than 100,000 Icelanders which is about a third of the entire country.

In the new study researchers have found that people in Iceland who suffer from atrial fibrillation or more commonly known as irregular heartbeat, have a shared mutation on a gene called MYL4. They also went on to find a rare mutation on a gene called ABDB4. The mutation of the ABDB4 gene can raise the risk of gallstones. In previous studies scientists have suggested that genes somewhere in the ballpark of gene ABCA7 was a cause for Alzheimer's disease. The current study has correctly identified the gene ABCA7 as a risk for Alzheimer's disease. Scientists from all over the world praise the researcher at Decode one even went to say that is was a bit of a holy grail.

This study is amazing and has opened many doors to help treat an prevent these diseases. Though more research needs to be done in the area, the scientific break though will hopefully lead to a brighter future.