Dr. Shuldiner is a presenter at the Bioethics Panel this Friday and a perfect way to get to know more about him is to have a small look at what he researches. Below is a short summary for one of his articles. Its a great read and not very difficult to understand the scientific verbose.
Dr. Alan Shuldiner and associates analyzed the effects of a mutation in the E40K gene. Carriers who are homozygous for this gene are seen to have lowers levels of LDL cholesterol (this is referred to as "bad" cholesterol) and, higher levels of HDL cholesterol (this is referred to as "good" cholesterol) and lower levels of circulating triglycerides.
This genomic sequencing was done on an population of approximately 45,000 Amish.
The main purpose of the article is to study the ANGPTL4 gene, of which the E40K gene is variant of. It is discovered that deactivation of some ANGPTL4 alleles is correlated with decreased risk for coronary heart disease and confers a better lipid profile overall for an individual.
For the full article, you can view it by following the link:
Come to the Bioethics Panel on Friday to listen to Dr. Shuldiner's presentation and ask questions if you have any.
See you there!
