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The Chinese and Han ethnic minorities share some common genetic mutations with Indians, Southeast Asians and Europeans along the Silk Road, revealed an unprecedented study on DNA samples.
In the largest sequencing of the Chinese genome, a group of international scientists studied the gene sets of about 140,000 women in China, revealing the relationships between genes and the outcome of birth, such as the delivery of twins and babies from certain infectious diseases.
The researchers gathered a representative sample of the entire Chinese population, according to the study published Thursday in the newspaper Cell.
Further analysis of genomes could reveal valuable information on migration patterns and disease risks in Chinese populations, he added.
The large-scale gene sequencing project was made possible through a technique called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIFT), which only requires a blood sample taken from a pregnant woman, the study said. . This procedure has been adopted by millions of pregnant women around the world to control the risk of fetuses from contracting certain genetic diseases.
"It has been administered to about 6 to 7 million Chinese women and about 10 million women worldwide," said Liu Siyang, co-author of the study and researcher at BGI, a Chinese biotechnology company. .
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This new technique has reduced the cost of DNA sequencing in a group large enough to study the genetic makeup of 1.4 billion people in China, said Xu Xun, also co-author of the study and researcher at BGI in Shenzhen. He also helped researchers gather a sample of up to 141,431 people, with extensive testing in 34 administrative provinces of China.
"Although the prenatal test is low-pass sequencing, that is, it only captures 6 to 10% of the entire genome at random, it is still possible that the use of these Data with a large population helps us to see what the Chinese genetic population looks like, "said Xu. "NIFT is a unique opportunity for us to access a large population."
Participants come from 31 of China's 34 provinces and belong to 36 of China's 55 ethnic minority groups, the study said.
"Our participants represent one in every 10,000 people in the Chinese population. It is therefore a large sample and a good reflection of the entire population, "said Jin Xin, another co-author of the study and researcher at BGI and the South China University of Technology. .
The analysis of the DNA samples also revealed that mutations of a gene called NRG1 are related to the formation of identical twins, as well as genes likely to cause the contraction of the roseola or the Rash in the newborn.
"It's amazing that this is even possible: you can take these bulky samples and do an association mapping to see which genetic variants explain the human traits," said co-author Rasmus Nielsen, professor of biology Integrative at the University of California. Berkeley, who oversaw the computer analysis performed by BGI researchers in Shenzhen.
BGI stated that it had obtained the informed consent of each participating woman to analyze sequenced genomes, while maintaining anonymity. The data is hosted in the China National GeneBank, according to the study.
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