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news.Iceland-based deCODE Genetics and Illumina along with academic collaborators have discovered two low frequency variants in the human genome which are linked to risk and serum uric acid levels.
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The researchers at deCODE sequenced the entire genomes of 457 Icelanders, and identified 16 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), using the sequencing technology by Illumina.
During the course of the study, it was observed that the effect on risk of gout, for the two loci is higher among men than women, but the effect on serum uric acid levels is the same in both sexes.
deCODE CEO Kari Stefansson said the study underscores the importance of whole genome sequencing of well-phenotyped populations.
The study is published in the online edition of Nature Genetics.