Michigan Tech researchers link 11 genetic variations to type 2 diabetes

ELA is used to compare the genetic makeup of unrelated individuals to sort out disease-related genes. The team has also developed another approach, which uses a two-stage association test that incorporates founders’ phenotypes, called TTFP, that can examine the genomes of family members going back generations.

“In the past, researchers have dealt with the nuclear family, parents and children, but this could go back to grandparents, great-grandparents . . . as far back as you want.”

The team has published their findings in the European Journal of Human Genetics. An abstract is available at www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/v15/n11/abs/5201902a.html.

Now that they’ve developed the software, the analysis is relatively simple, says Sha. But getting the genetic data to work on is not. “We don’t have the data sets yet to work with,” she says, clearly frustrated. “That’s the problem with having no medical school.”

Those who do have data sets, however, can use the team’s software to help find the cause—and hopefully, the cures—for a panoply of illnesses. ELA is available in Windows and Linux versions at www.math.mtu.edu/~shuzhang/software.html, and TTFP is available by request.

Other members of Michigan Tech's statistical genetics group are Associate Professor Shuanglin Zhang and postdoctoral scientists Zhaogong Zhang and Tao Feng.

A description of the SNPs linked to type 2 diabetes may be downloaded from the Michigan Tech press release site, http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/673/ .

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