Indian Journal of Human Genetics Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Society of Human Genetics ISSN: 0971-6866 EISSN: 1998-362x Vol. 11, Num. 1, 2005, pp. 3-3

Indian Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 11, No. 1, January-June, 2005, pp. 3

Editorial

Time to form a consortium to study the genetic polymorphism by using standard DNA markers

Ghosh K., Mukherjee M.B., Mohanty D.

Institute of Immunohaematology (ICMR), 13th Floor, NMS Building, KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai - 400012

Correspondence Address: Institute of Immunohaematology (ICMR), 13th Floor, NMS Building, KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai - 400012, mohanty@bom5.vsnl.net.in

Code Number: hg05007

As a treating physician we all know that no two patients are exactly alike in their presentation, development and natural history of the disease even though the initiating or immediate causal event for the disease is the same. The traditional teaching in preventive and social medicine talks about Host-Agent-Environment interaction leading to evolution and diversity of manifestation of the disease. As science progressed increasingly it was possible to define more accurately the agent and environment. The host or the human being itself was not so easy to define. However, attempts by the anthropologists of all hues, medical and clinical geneticists defined this human host in terms of geography, society, religion, caste, groups, families etc. These kind of classification in medicine served an important purpose i.e. consanguinity and prevalence of certain genetic disorders in these population. Founder effect for certain genetic disorders where the history of human colonisation of the area was clearly known and the birth, baptisation records are clearly available. Hereditary ectodermal dysplasia in Canadian population is one such example. Still uncertainties remain regarding the genetic individualities or similarities in a group of individual.

Completion of human genome project and advances in molecular biology techniques allowed us to define different population groups using various genetics markers like VNTR′s, STR′s, LTR′s, minisatellites, microsatellites etc. The number of papers in this area are increasing in exponential fashion. Several markers have been used to study a few indian population too.[1],[2],[3],[4],[5] In this issue of the journal, Iranian populations have been studied using minisatellite loci markers and it definitely adds to the information bank of molecular anthropology.

One important question araised from such studies i.e. what is the final outcome with such an haphazard effort. We all agree that various population needs to be studied with a view to define the distribution of various DNA markers (e.g. VNTR, Minisatellite, Microsatellite STR, etc). This will have future potential in forensic medicine, history of human migration, construction of cluster to show the relative genetic distances between human population groups, to find out how various selection pressure might have lead to selection of specific marker over others and how that particular marker describes the phenomenon by remaining in linkage disequilibrium with an important gene(s). However, all these studies will be realistically possible once we complete the study using a battery of same genetic markers covering the whole world population under a consortia. We hope this will be undertaken in world scientific body sooner than later and inearnest.

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