According to an article published through the University of Utah’s website (utah.edu), researchers at the university’s dermatology department have found a definitive link to psoriasis through a gene variation, “HLA-Cw*0602.”
As you may have already heard, the extreme complexity DNA structures makes genetic research in general very… well, complex. However with the advent of new technology, such as the new DNA scanners used in this study (which are not names specifically), it is becoming more and more feasible to pinpoint exactly what genetic variations give rise to inherited conditions such as psoriasis.
According to the aforementioned article, researchers at the University of Utah made this discovery by scanning the genetic code of 1,359 people with psoriasis, the result of which they then compared to 1,400 people without psoriasis. As a result of these scans (in which 500,000 variations were investigated) 18 of these variations or “single nucleotide polymorphisms” (SNP’s) were singled out as likely candidates for causing psoriasis. Thus, an additional 10,000 people (5k with and 5k without) were able to be more efficiently scanned, to further narrow down the cause of the disease, which they found to be HLA-Cw*0602 as well as MICA/HLA-B and c6orf10.
When all three of these variations are present, a person is much more likely to develop psoriasis.
The purpose of these studies is to discover the root cause of psoriasis — this should guide researchers to figure out how to counter-act this cause. They are most likely seeking a cure for baldness (which has also been found to be a genetic issue) in much the same way. Thus, if scientists can figure out how to knock any SNP back into place, they might release a cure for baldness and psoriasis in short succession.
