I have written before about deCODE Genetics. This biotech firm studies DNA genetics information, based upon what is undoubtedly the most complete genealogy database of an entire nation. You can read my previous articles at: www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/39.asp#2 and at www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/3625.asp.

deCODE Genetics’ genealogy database contains information about all known Icelanders for the last 1100 years. In fact, Icelanders have always kept excellent genealogy records. Most records in Iceland have been preserved, including church records with christenings, confirmations, marriages, and deaths. The country also has excellent land deeds and census records. Also, many old family trees have been maintained through sagas and family tree books.

Genealogy has always been a common interest in Iceland. Almost all Icelanders can track their roots for all ancestors back 200 years, and some trace ancestors back to the year 800 A.D. and even earlier. deCODE Genetics recognized that this data, matched against DNA information from living Icelanders, was an excellent source of information genetics. Several discoveries have resulted, and this week the company announced a new finding.

The following is an announcement from deCODE Genetics:

deCODE Announces Mapping of a Hypertension Gene on Chromosome 18

deCODE Study Published This Month Reveals the Strongest Genetic Linkage Ever Found to the Common Form of the Condition

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 26—deCODE genetics (NASDAQ:DCGN) Nasdaq Europe today announced that a team of its scientists has located a gene contributing to high blood pressure. The gene was mapped to a small region on chromosome 18, which previous studies have suggested may play a role in blood pressure regulation in humans, mice and rats. The discovery is thus an important and encouraging advance in understanding the human genetics of high blood pressure, which affects roughly one in four adults in the industrialized world and is a leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke. An article reporting the findings, "Linkage of essential hypertension to chromosome 18q," authored by the deCODE team and collaborating cardiologists from Iceland's National University Hospital, is published in the latest edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension. The article is available online at www.hypertensionaha.org.

deCODE is analyzing the locus to identify and characterize the gene involved. The company plans to employ its findings to develop new treatments as well as DNA-based diagnostic products that can assist in clinical diagnosis, indicate predisposition to high blood pressure, and permit the prescription of the most effective medications for individual patients. High blood pressure and related conditions represent one of the world's biggest public health problems, an area of significant unmet medical need and a growing, multibillion-dollar therapeutic market.

The deCODE study is the largest population genetic study ever carried out in patients with essential hypertension— high blood pressure without a known secondary cause—and reports the strongest genome-wide linkage of any research on this condition to date. From a list of more than 5000 Icelandic patients receiving treatment for hypertension, deCODE used its genealogy database of the Icelandic population to draw up 120 extended families with a high incidence of the condition. Nearly 500 volunteer patients and more than 300 unaffected relatives were genotyped with 900 microsatellite markers. Additional markers were then analyzed in a small region on chromosome 18 showing significant linkage to the disease. Patients from just over half of the families in the study appear to be sharing a genetic factor at this locus, suggesting that it may be an important factor in the onset of the condition.

"Virtually all of us know about high blood pressure and the danger it poses to health, either because we suffer from it ourselves or know someone who does. The discovery we are reporting is an important contribution to unravelling the human genetics of heart disease and a step towards applying this knowledge to develop new diagnostic tools, drugs and prevention strategies," said Dr. Kari Stefansson, CEO of deCODE. "This study underscores yet again the power of our population approach and unrivalled genotyping capabilities for homing in on key genetic factors underlying the most common, most broadly-defined diseases. It will also help us to develop a new understanding of the relationship between high blood pressure and related conditions such as high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes, heart attack and stroke. We plan to apply the findings announced today to create and bring to market new products that can better treat and prevent high blood pressure and other related diseases."

• Read the next article in this issue.
  
• Return to the previous article in this issue.
  
• Return to the Table of Contents