The University of Western Australia |
Work by Perth researchers could revolutionise testing for Type 1 diabetes around the world.
The
research by the Centre for Diabetes Research (CDR) at the Western
Australian Institute for Medical research (WAIMR), led by Professor
Grant Morahan, has been published in the top journal in the field, Diabetes.
Lead
author Cao Nguyen, said the new method would make testing much cheaper
and quicker to determine what genetic risk factors have for Type 1
diabetes. In this disease, the person's own immune system destroys the
cells that make insulin.
The strongest genetic risk factors for Type 1 diabetes are the HLA genes known as HLA-DR3 and HLA-DR4.
"Currently
a blood sample is collected and sent to specialist laboratories where
it can cost $300 per sample to test HLA types by the conventional
method," Research Assistant Professor Nguyen said.
"With this new
method, it will cost less than $50 to find a person's HLA risk type.
The process will be more affordable and will make it easier for more
researchers to investigate type 1 diabetes."
Asst. Professor
Nguyen tested more than 200,000 genetic markers in the DNA of over
10,000 people as part of the international Type 1 Diabetes Genetics
Consortium.
Using advanced computational methods, Asst. Professor
Nguyen discovered as few as three genetic markers can predict all the
HLA risk types that are relevant to Type 1 Diabetes.
The overall accuracy of his prediction method was 99.3% - which is more accurate than existing methods.
Now
that the research has been published, clinicians and researchers across
the world can start using the method, providing faster results for
people with a family history of Type 1 diabetes.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Cheaper genetic test for diabetes
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