9 genes found that affect bones
Osteoporosis affects over 2 million Australians, and identifying genes that lead to the condition will help to treat the problem. Image: JimmyAnderson/iStockphoto Australian and UK scientists have shown that a large percentage of genes are likely to affect bone strength, potentially around 2,000 of the 21,000 genes in our bodies.Identifying genes that lead to osteoporosis is an important first step in helping to treat this serious condition, which affects over 2 million Australians.Out of 100 ‘knockout mice’, which have a gene disabled, the first generated on a ‘pipeline’ set up by the UK’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (as part of a global effort to knockout every gene in the genome one by one) the scientists identified 9 genes that appear to weaken or strengthen bone.Professor Peter Croucher from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in collaboration with Dr Duncan Bassett and Professor Graham Williams from Imperial College London and colleagues at the...