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URGENT CARE

When your health concerns can't wait.

nity started out so small and
remained genetically isolated,
it developed a higher load of
disease-causing mutations. Even
today, Ashkenazi Jews are known
to be at higher risk for many
diseases, including breast and
ovarian cancer and Tay-Sachs
disease. But many potentially
disease-causing Ashkenazi muta-
tions remain unknown.
To address this problem, Pe'er
and a team of researchers at the
Ashkenazi Genome Consortium
(TAGC) did high-depth sequenc-
ing of the Ashkenazi genomes.
Finding that the genomes had
almost 50 percent more muta-
tions than did European samples
on average, they compiled
a comprehensive catalog of
genetic mutations found among
Ashkenazi Jews.
The catalog is already prov-
ing useful for carrier testing, the
genetic analyses prospective par-
ents undergo to see what diseases
they risk passing onto future
children. They are also work-
ing to sequence some 500 more
Ashkenazi genomes to further
strengthen the catalog.
"TAGC advances the goal of
bringing personal genomics to
the clinic, as it tells the physician
whether a mutation in a patient's
genome is shared by healthy indi-
viduals, and can alleviate con-
cerns that it is causing disease,"
said Lencz. "Without our work,
a patient's genome sequence
is much harder to interpret,
and more prone to create false
alarms. We have eliminated two
thirds of these false alarms:'
By revealing genetic informa-
tion unique to Ashkenazi Jews,
the catalog should also allow
the pinpointing of genes behind
more of the diseases that plague
the population. The research-
ers are already studying spe-
cific Ashkenazi diseases to this
end, including schizophrenia,
Parkinson's disease, Crohn's dis-
ease and cancer, as well as other
traits, such as longevity. The
researchers expect many of these
medical insights to be relevant to
the general population as well. ❑

JTA contributed to this report.

416e

Wishing our patients,
friends and families
a healthy, sweet
New Year!

O'URGEN7-

Urgent Care Association Of Arr er ca

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LAKES MEDICAL CENTER BUILDING
2300 Haggerty Road, Suite 1010
West Bloomfield, MI 48323

(On Haggerty Road just south of Pontiac Trail)

248-926-9111

www.lakesurgentcare.com

1949180

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