In a recent study examining blood pressure and heart rate, researchers may have identified a genetic component.
It is a well known fact that both resting heart rate and blood pressure both have a significant effect on cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, while both factors have a relatively high heritability, the genes influencing their rates are difficult to locate. The key? ENU germline mutagenesis.
In this study, researchers utilized N-ethyl-N-nitrosurea (ENU) mutagenesis to create rapid mutations in the reproductive cells of mice. This was paired with meiotic mapping to find loci with genes that code for heart rate. After testing over 40,000 mice, 87 systolic blood pressure genes and 144 HR genes were found.
This research is important because of how deadly heart disease can be. By analyzing genes affecting heart rate and blood pressure in mice, medical researchers may get a better idea of preventative measures for human heart disease in the future.
Sources:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj9797
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10221322/
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