Could be the title of the paper. Anyway, Genome-wide association mapping identifies multiple loci for a canine SLE-related disease complex:
...Incidences of specific diseases are elevated in different breeds, indicating that a few genetic risk factors might have accumulated through drift or selective breeding. In this study, a GWA study with 81 affected dogs (cases) and 57 controls from the Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever breed identified five loci associated with a canine systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related disease complex that includes both antinuclear antibody (ANA)-positive immune-mediated rheumatic disease (IMRD) and steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA). Fine mapping with twice as many dogs validated these loci. Our results indicate that the homogeneity of strong genetic risk factors within dog breeds allows multigenic disorders to be mapped with fewer than 100 cases and 100 controls, making dogs an excellent model in which to identify pathways involved in human complex diseases.
In which case, skip the dogs. There are plenty of human populations where family reunions, not college, is where you find your "life partner":
They're running out of oil and water in Yemen, perhaps their unique local inbred clans could be of service to medical genetics, though I don't know the bioethics of paying for these studies. I do recall genetic homogeneity of Icelanders was one of the selling points of why deCODE was going to be a big success....
Citation: Nature Genetics , 31 January 2010 | doi:10.1038/ng.525
- Log in to post comments
It's interesting to look at India and how they cut it up. Compare the Tamils to the Gujaratis. And it looks like Bangladesh is more Indian in its behaviour than either are like Pakistan.
They should have divided the US and China by province. Is the South as consanguineous as the North keeps joking about? How about the Yankees themselves? Utah? the Southwest?