Case Western Reserve University and TGen Select Affymetrix SNP Array 6.0 for Diabetes Study
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Affymetrix Inc. has announced that Case Western Reserve University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) will use the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 to discover genetic pathways associated with diabetic nephropathy (DN).
Case Western is the coordinating center for the 11 centers conducting independent studies as part of the Family Investigation of Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND) Consortium, a project launched by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in 1999.
Over a five-year period, 11 recruitment centers across the United States pooled their resources to recruit and enroll more than 10,000 participants into the FIND study. The FIND Consortium has already identified several key genetic variants associated with nephropathy in African-Americans, European-Americans, Mexican-Americans and American Indians.
Scientists expect that the results gathered using the SNP Array 6.0 will ultimately lead to therapeutic strategies to prevent the onset or progression of nephropathy. Such data will also help identify people at risk for the development of progressive renal disease.
Diabetic nephropathy is a common complication in patients with diabetes that is becoming increasingly prevalent in older adults. Earlier treatment for patients that are at a higher genetic risk of developing DN may slow the progression of this disease.
“We are drawing rapidly closer to understanding the genetic basis for diabetic nephropathy, which in turn will enable us to develop more effective treatments and, ultimately, save lives,” said Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., senior investigator in the Neurogenomics Division at TGen. “The Affymetrix SNP Array 6.0 provides us with a better view of genome variation with comprehensive coverage of both single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variant.”
“Diabetes continues to mystify researchers because both genetic and environmental factors appear to play significant roles in the manifestation of the disease. Affymetrix is working with the FIND Consortium to discover the genetic cause of this disease that affects so many people around the world,” said Kevin King, president of Affymetrix.
“With the SNP Array 6.0, researchers are now able to analyze more genetic variation on a single array than any other product, providing maximum genetic power, all at a much more affordable cost per sample,“ he added.
