deCODE Discovers Genetic Variants Influencing Bone Mineral Density

In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of scientists from deCODE genetics (NASDAQ:DCGN) and academic colleagues from Iceland, Denmark and Australia report the discovery of five single letter variants (SNPs) at five different sites in the human genome that impact bone mineral density (BMD) and predispose to fracturing of bones. BMD is a principal measure of the presence and severity of osteoporosis, a common, progressive and often debilitating condition in which bones become thinner and more prone to fracture, even from minor falls or blows. As an accompanying editorial in the NEJM points out, although BMD has long been known to have a significant inherited...

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