Ancient DNA could be hiding all kinds of health secrets – Deccan Herald

Researchers trying to find better drugs for MS now have a better idea of what theyre up against when it comes to certain autoimmune diseases. As explained by Lars Fugger, a neurologist at the University of Oxford who was involved in the study, scientists are trying to undo 5,000 years of evolutionary honing.

Unfortunately, the research doesnt offer a roadmap for how to design new and better drugs. But Lugger suggests that the work might at least point to a better way. Current MS therapies generally work by damping down the immune system, but given that these mutations arose to protect us, perhaps the better approach would be to recalibrate immune cells activity rather than shutting them down altogether.

Ideally, with these data in hand and eventually made available to other researchers an exploration other health conditions will unfold. The signal of risk wont always be as clear and meaningful as with MS, but there are plenty of diseases where this type of data can be used to solidify hypotheses and illuminate biology.

As that work evolves, the field must do better a job of expanding the study of ancient (and modern) DNA beyond Europe and North America. Although all humans are genetically very similar, our evolutionary pasts might differ and, as this MS paper nicely highlights, those histories can affect our understanding of current health issues.

Some of the focus on European ancestors is practical. Ancient DNA is better preserved in colder, drier climates, making it harder to extract useful genetic information from samples in, for example, the tropics. But researchers say funding for projects in less-represented populations has lagged significantly.

The problem is not limited to ancient DNA. Much of the work in modern genetics has been devoted to studying people outside of North America and Europe. Asgari points out that 80 per cent of large genetic studies focus on populations of European ancestry, yet that group makes up just 18 per cent of the global population.

While the field has become far better at acknowledging these knowledge and resource gaps, more needs to be done to close them. Each region has diseases that might be better understood by comparing ancient and modern DNA. Asgari points to sickle cell disease, which is believed to have arisen as a protection against malaria, or the high prevalence of diabetes in the Middle East, as areas that deserve the same kind of study.

Theres still so much to learn about the human genome. Well learn more, faster, if we cast a wider net.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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Ancient DNA could be hiding all kinds of health secrets - Deccan Herald