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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-12 > 1196521232


From: "Ron Scott" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] 23andMe - Phenotypes
Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2007 09:00:32 -0600


On Sat, 1 Dec 2007 00:50:28 -0600, Rebekah asks:

> I know it is a lot to ask but for any health problem they test for could you
> also include other associated SNPs that nether company tests?

This would require more time to devote to researching than I'm able to do at this time. Also, I'm not a medical doctor, and I don't feel qualified to make the assessments of what SNPs are truly "causative," which associated ones have a "real effect" on a gene, etc.

To give an example, there are 14 SNPs in one of the three candidate genes (IR7R located on Chr5) associated with Multiple Sclerosis, but only one (rs6897932) that, according to Gregory et al. 2007, is "strongly associated with increased multiple sclerosis risk." They do mention two other candidate genes (CCL2 and MMP19), of which they "do not exclude the possibility of a small effect of variants in either gene." Also, they found that the known HLA effect was independent of the IR7R on MS.

So, from what I can tell, the researchers are not too sure yet of the status of these associated variants on the other two candidate genes. They are making headway, though. For anyone interested in this phenotype, I've posted the Gregory et al. 2007 paper and associated material on my website (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ncscotts/Misc/Papers/MS).

I hope you can see the dilemma of posting SNPs that may or may not have any causal effect on these phenotypes. The present list compiled from 23andMe, however, is one with which I feel comfortable.

Ron Scott

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