Researchers unlock disease information hidden in genome's control circuitry
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 14:00
in Biology & Nature
Researchers have determined that the majority of genetic changes associated with more than 400 common diseases and clinical traits affect the genome's regulatory circuitry. These are the regions of DNA that contain instructions dictating when and where genes are switched on or off. Most of these changes affect circuits that are active during early human development, when body tissues are most vulnerable.