February 10, 2011
A research article published in November shows that people who have the 'GT' genotype for the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the mitochondrial polymerase gamma (POLG) gene have a 23-fold increase in liver toxicity. For those who have two copies 'TT', the risk is even higher. As such, these genotypes confer tremendous risk on about 12 percent of people of European/Caucasian descent, and somewhat smaller percentages of people of Asian or African descent.
Read full story
January 12, 2011
Nobody. Well, almost nobody. The real answer is that the gene (ATP-binding cassette protein, sub-family 'C' member '11'; ABCC11) that controls earwax phenotype also controls other attributes of glands in the body, and there are genetic variations in this ABCC11 gene that affect the risk of conditions and the effectiveness of treatments in those other glandular tissues.
Read full story
December 16, 2010
I received the following email:My doctor put me on metoprolol [Lopressor or Toprol-XL] for my high blood pressure about 3 months ago, and increased my dose to 200 mg twice a day about a month ago, but so far it's not working. My blood pressure hasn't changed a bit. Is there something in my genomics SNP results here that can explain this? Should I expect it'll just take awhile? Should I be on a different drug? Here are my SNP microarray results. What should I ask my doctor when I go for my check-up in 2 weeks?
Read full story