Asthma gene found in African Americans

 　　BEIJING, August 1 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. researchers have discovered a genetic² mutation³ unique to African Americans that links to heighten their asthma⁴ risk, according to reports published on Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics.

　　Researchers of University of Chicago found a gene¹, PYHIN1, and its variations may account for asthma risk in people of African descent.

　　In their study, they examined data from nine previous genome-wide association studies, totaling more than 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms in 3,246 asthma patients and 3,385 control patient, 1,702 patient-parent groupings, 355 family-based cases, and 468 family-based controls.

　　In the study, the researchers found that between 26 percent and 29 percent of people of African-descent carried at least one copy of the gene.  In particular, one polymorphism of the gene was 34 percent more likely found in African-American and Afro-Caribbean people with asthma.  More interestingly, this variant⁵ of the gene is rarely found in Caucasian people and in Latino population, it was found in less than 5 percent.

　　This new variant is part of a family of genes⁶ linked with the body's response to viral infections. It is thought to be involved in interferon signaling, which could influence the occurrence of asthma.

　　The team stressed that each gene variant on its own plays only a small role in increasing asthma risk, but that risk could be multiplied when combined with other risk genes and with environmental factors.

 

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

4 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

5 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪