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In genetic control of disease, does 'race' matter?

Nature Genetics volume 36, pages 1243–1244 (2004)Cite this article

As geneticists begin to identify gene variants associated with common diseases and responses to treatment, it is increasingly important to determine whether these variants have consistent effects across different 'racial' or 'ethnic' groups. Until recently, too little was known about either disease genetics or pharmacogenetics to make a detailed assessment. Now, a new study reviewing 43 disease-associated gene variants suggests that the effects of gene variants may be largely consistent across different 'racial' or 'ethnic' groups.

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Figure 1: Allele frequency differences between African Americans and European Americans for pharmacogenetic polymorphisms (variants reported to influence drug response).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology at Galton Labs, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    David B Goldstein

  2. Divisions of Genetics and Endocrinology at Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Joel N Hirschhorn

  3. Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Joel N Hirschhorn

Authors
  1. David B Goldstein
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  2. Joel N Hirschhorn
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Goldstein, D., Hirschhorn, J. In genetic control of disease, does 'race' matter?. Nat Genet 36, 1243–1244 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1204-1243

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1204-1243

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