NAIPI

Nature cover features New Mexico INBRE supported research:

• First integrated genome survey comparing healthy and diseased individuals.
• First genome sequences of females, twins or persons with autoimmune disease.
• First ten adult epigenome sequences showing inherited DNA modifications, including  differences between twins, differences between unrelated individuals and differences between different body tissues

In a new study, researchers scoured the genomes of several identical twin pairs, in which one twin had developed multiple sclerosis (MS) while the other did not.  The researchers were searching for any genetic differences that could explain the twins’ different fates.

The study touches on the influence of nature vs. nurture in MS, which occurs when the body’s immune system inappropriately attacks the brain and spinal cord.  It has long been known that identical twins often have different outcomes when it comes to MS, a phenomenon called discordance.  This has been interpreted to mean that environmental factors must play a strong role in the disease.

However, as genetic technology has advanced, researchers have found that there are sometimes subtle genetic differences between identical, or monozygotic, twins.  (Monozygotic twins are derived from the fertilization of a single egg in their mother’s womb.)

The authors of the new study wondered if those differences might explain the discordance of MS in some monozygotic twins, but they were unable to find a genetic explanation.  The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, and was published in Nature*.

Coverage of article and study at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/news_articles/twins_and_genetics_of_MS.htm

View the full Nature Article:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v464/n7293/full/nature08990.html