Researchers from the University of Turin, Italy and the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, have devised a new method that may help the medical community to determine the genetic basis of many common diseases. Their findings are described in an article published March 21st in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology.

Thousands of human diseases originate from mutations in one or more genes. Identification of mutated genes is a crucial first step towards understanding the molecular mechanisms at the origin of diseases and devising a treatment. In many cases, we do not know the identity of the affected gene, only a chromosomal region (typically containing hundred of genes) in which the mutation is located. … Continue Reading »