Sunday, January 18, 2009

One in 100 has heart gene defect

"One in 100 people in the world has a gene defect that almost guarantees heart failure, scientists have found. For individuals whose ancestry can be traced to the Indian subcontinent, the risk is much higher. They have more than a one in 25 chance of inheriting the abnormal gene. The mutation, a deletion of 25 letters of genetic code from the heart protein gene MYBPC3, is believed to have first appeared in India thousands of years ago. It is thought to affect around 60 million people worldwide. Researchers studying the gene reported that for anyone unlucky enough to be born with it, heart failure is a virtual certainty. Genetic risk is often expressed as an "odds ratio", with 1.2 indicating a small effect and 2.0 a large one. The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics." - Channel 4

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