The News:
A series of articles was published concerning the discovery of “switches” in each person’s DNA that determine if a gene is “on” or not.
What This Means for the T1D Community:
When I finally decided to have my non-T1D kids tested for incipient T1D, I asked of a question of my trusted and ultra-knowledgeable friend Mark. I wanted to know why we test only for the insulin antibodies that would signal the beginning of the disease instead of screening for the presence of the genes responsible for T1D.
Mark, always clear and patient with questions that feel downright dumb, reminded me that just because a person HAS a gene that can determine an aspect of health or disease, that gene may not be EXPRESSED.
Researchers this week have shown that they now better understand the mechanism by which a gene is expressed–that is, turned on–or not.
Dig just the littlest bit into your high school bio class and remember with me the role of DNA. DNA is that cool double-helixy thing that is often seen on the cover of textbooks and biotech prospectuses and is here, at the top of this post. It is a structure determined by the approximate 20,000 genes that the Human Genome Project has mapped. It is, essentially, the blueprint for an individual.
MAP might be a more apt metaphor than blueprint, given that the idea of map allows one to think of roads not traveled.
Or better yet, DNA could be thought of as a series of “switches,” the metaphor chosen by several of the articles.
The notion of genes switching ON or OFF is crucial in T1D because it has been determined that autoimmune diseases, T1D among them, share switches.
A more complete understanding of the molecular underpinnings of this disease could help researchers in determine much about T1D, bringing us one step closer to a cure.
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