(Press-News.org) Commercially available gene tests that shed light on individual's origins are popular. They provide an estimate of the geographic regions where one's ancestors come from. To arrive at such an estimate, the genetic information of an individual is compared to information pertaining to reference groups collected from around the world.
The findings now made by researchers from the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare make it possible, for the first time, to make similar comparisons within Finland.
A research group at the University of Helsinki, headed by Associate Professor Matti Pirinen, who directed the study, has already earlier produced very detailed information on genetic structure in Finland. In the recently published study, reference groups were compiled from Finns with similar genetic ancestry and then applied to track the effects of migration in the 20th century on the population level.
The results have been published in the PLoS Genetics journal. In addition, the researchers have launched a website for the project, where anyone can browse the results using an interactive map.
The work is based on samples collected in the FINRISK study by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Using the reference datasets compiled from the samples, Finns can be classified on three different levels according to their geographical origin with fairly high precision. The first level separates Finns on the east-west axis, while the 10 different reference groups on the most detailed level partially match the former provinces of Finland.
The model used in the comparison works best when most of the individual's ancestors are from the same geographic region. The greater the dispersion of the ancestors, the less accurate the estimate provided by the model is.
"Determining genetic ancestry on nearly the provincial level in Finland would be exciting for anyone interested in recent history," says Sini Kerminen, who recently published a doctoral thesis on the topic at the University of Helsinki's Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM).
Furthermore, the study observed the effect of recent genetic mixing in different areas in Finland on the basis of people's year and place of birth. A study of this temporal and geographical precision has never before been conducted anywhere in the world.
According to the findings, the genetic impact of the evacuation of the Karelian region ceded to the Soviet Union has been greater than that of the post-war urbanisation. Moreover, clear differences were seen within Finland with regard to how much population mixing had taken place in the period covered by the study, from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The most notable change was seen in the Uusimaa, Varsinais-Suomi and Häme regions, where the share of southwestern ancestry had declined by more than 20 percentage points. Changes of such magnitude and speed illustrate migration within the country and indicate that more people have migrated in the 20th century from east to west than in the opposite direction in Finland. The least change was observed in the Ostrobothnia region.
"By monitoring the share of the Karelian ancestry in the newborn population of the regions studied we can trace the movement of evacuees at almost an annual level. For example, Karelian ancestry in Ostrobothnia appears to have increased substantially in wartime. However, already in the 1950s it had largely disappeared from the region, unlike in the Uusimaa region and southwest Finland where the share of Karelian ancestry seems to have stabilised at the wartime level," says Associate Professor Pirinen.
According to the research group, detailed understanding of the fine-scale genetic structure of the population is also important for medical projects that utilise genomic information.
"Finally, we want to emphasise that genetic background is not the same as national or cultural identity, which means that our results cannot be used to determine who is a Finn," Pirinen states.
INFORMATION:
Many cognitive neurodevelopmental disorders are a result of too many or too few copies of certain genes or chromosomes. To date, no treatment options exist for this class of disorders. MECP2 duplication syndrome (MDS) is one such disorder that primarily affects boys and results from a duplication spanning the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) locus located on the X chromosome.
A preclinical study published from the laboratory of Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, provides experimental evidence that supports the use of antisense oligonucleotides as a feasible strategy to treat MDS. The study also offers crucial ...
Observations of galactic rotation curves give one of the strongest lines of evidence pointing towards the existence of dark matter, a non-baryonic form of matter that makes up an estimated 85% of the matter in the observable Universe. Current assessments of galactic rotation curves are based upon a framework of Newtonian accounts of gravity, a new paper published in EPJ C, by Gerson Otto Ludwig, National Institute for Space Research, Brazil, suggests that if this is substituted with a general relativity-based model, the need to recourse to dark ...
The drug nusinersen is approved for the treatment of 5q spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined in an early benefit assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit for patients in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy.
According to the findings, there is an indication of a major added benefit in comparison with best supportive care (BSC) in children with early onset of disease (in the first six months of life). The drug manufacturer did not submit any relevant data for children with a later onset of disease, so that an added benefit in comparison with BSC is not proven here. For infants who are not yet symptomatic but are expected to have early onset ...
In recent years, researchers have begun using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) not just for better understanding the neural bases of psychiatric illness, but also for experimental treatment of depression, ADHD, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorder, and schizophrenia with a technique called real-time fMRI neurofeedback.
While rtfMRI-NF has emerged in recent years as a promising experimental intervention, it's also a costly procedure that requires extensive technical setup to allow for real-time analysis. That's why a quantitative data review was overdue.
A team of END ...
Texas A&M University researchers have recently shown superior performance of a new oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy they developed for use in both fission and fusion reactors.
Dr. Lin Shao, professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, worked alongside research scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Hokkaido University to create the next generation of high-performance ODS alloys, and so far they are some of the strongest and best-developed metals in the field.
ODS alloys consist of a combination of metals interspersed with small, nanometer-sized oxide particles and are known for their high creep resistance. This means that as temperatures rise, the materials keep ...
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine show that analysis of the proteomics, or all the protein data, from aggressive human cancers is a useful approach to identify potential novel therapeutic targets. They report in the journal Oncogene, the identification of "proteomic signatures" that are associated with clinical measures of aggressive disease for each of the seven cancer types studied. Some signatures were shared between different types of cancer and included cellular pathways of altered metabolism. Importantly, experimental results provided proof-of-concept that their proteomics analysis approach is a valuable strategy to identify potential therapeutic targets.
"There are two notable aspects of this study. One is that ...
If you dunk a tea bag repeatedly into your mug or open a cream-filled cookie to lick the filling, you might find coping with pandemic isolation a bit easier than others.
A UC Riverside-led study has found people who adopt unique rituals to make everyday tasks more meaningful might feel less lonely.
"We found that something as simple as preparing tea in a certain way, as long as it's interpreted as a ritual, can make the experience more meaningful," said Thomas Kramer, a professor of marketing at UC Riverside's School of Business. "This makes people feel less lonely."
The paper, published ...
Parkinson's disease has always been considered a brain disorder. However, new research reveals a close link between the disease and certain immune cells in the blood.
Researchers from Aarhus University have taken the first step on a path which can lead to new ways of understanding and, in the long term, possibly treating this widespread disease that affects not only motor functions but also cognition and emotions.
"We know that Parkinson's disease is characterized by an inflammation in the brain, and that this is crucial for the progression of the disease. But in the study, our interest has been focused on the immune cells found outside the brain," explains Marina Romero-Ramos, who is associate professor at the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University.
The researchers ...
COVID-19 pandemic has increased loneliness and other social issues, especially for women, Mayo research finds
ROCHESTER, Minnesota -- Social distancing guidelines have reduced the spread of COVID-19, but lockdowns and isolation also have created or aggravated other well-being concerns, reports new research. Mayo Clinic investigators found a significant increase in loneliness and a decrease in feelings of friendship during the pandemic. The study, published Feb. 20 in the journal Social Science & Medicine, also showed disproportionate negative effects among women and those with poorer health.
The researchers say that while physical distance is important during the pandemic, distance within and among relationships can cause undue harm to a person's mental health and well-being. ...
Astronomers using the recently installed instrument MAROON-X on Gemini North have determined the mass of a transiting exoplanet orbiting the nearby star Gliese 486. As well as putting the innovative new instrument through its paces, this result, when combined with data from the TESS satellite, precisely measures key properties of a rocky planet that is ideal for follow-up observations with the next generation of ground- and space-based telescopes.
The exoplanet-hunting instrument MAROON-X has obtained its first scientific result from its new home ...
