Researchers have pinpointed new genes that can trigger Lupus, a complex auto-immune disease that has no clear cut diagnosis or cure.
In four papers published in Nature Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers write that they have identified new and familiar genes for lupus. The findings support a current theory that a "consortium" of genes is responsible for the development of Lupus as opposed to a single gene.
"It's an important moment in autoimmune disease research," noted Dr. Noel Rose, who is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research. Rose was one of the first researchers to connect a specific gene with an autoimmune disease almost 30 years ago.
"It is exactly the thing I was dreaming about so many years ago -- that there would be common genes that would be involved in many autoimmune diseases," Rose said. It's a case of the "bad luck hypothesis," which means "you inherited all of these genes that are perfectly normal regulatory genes, and you got just too many of them, and that will bias your response this way or that way" in terms of developing the disease, Rose explained.
For more details on Lupus check out our article: What is Lupus?
[Source: MedlinePlus]
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