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Huge Study Shows Where Gout Comes From, And It's Not What We Thoughtwww.sciencealert.com/huge-study-shows-where-gout-comes-from-and-its-not-what-we-thought
157 sats \ 6 comments \ @south_korea_ln 2 Nov science
By comparing the genetic codes of the people with gout against the people without, the team found 377 specific DNA regions where there were variations specific to having the condition – 149 of which hadn't been previously linked to gout.
While lifestyle and environmental factors are certainly still in play, the findings suggest genetics play a major role in determining whether or not someone gets gout – and the researchers think there may be more undiscovered genetic links still to be found, too.
"Gout is a chronic disease with a genetic basis and is not the fault of the sufferer – the myth that gout is caused by lifestyle or diet needs to be busted," says epidemiologist Tony Merriman, from the University of Otago in New Zealand.
My alcoholic friend who developed gout at 25 can rest assured, it's not totally his fault...
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 2 Nov
Gout is called the kings disease, right? Because they always ate more meat compared to peasants.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 2 Nov
It's sad to see them conclude that lifestyle plays little role because some people are not affected by bad lifestyle.
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226 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 2 Nov
Yeah, my comment above was tongue-in-cheek... even my friend would probably agree that his lifestyle may have something to do with it, even though his genetics may have played a role at developing it.
Likely, if one were to read the original article, this kind of conclusion would not appear. The language would be much more hedged. It's the papers vulgarizing and reporting on the academic papers that tend to make these generalizing conclusions at the cost of accuracy.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 2 Nov
Does this mean that DNA analysis is accurate? They found recently, that it won’t work well for criminal ID. I guess that saying it is all in genetics is a good excuse. I think a lot of the changes have to do with epigenetics rather than changes in DNA. The epigenetic change points increase the number of variables in the genetic expression of code many-to-one.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln OP 2 Nov
DNA analysis is quite accurate as far as I know, but as you say, epigenetics deciding which genes are on or off adds a level of complexity. Predicting someone's behavior solely based on DNA is quite speculative.
As for criminal ID, yes, there are definitely limitations. We share DNA with relatives, possibly causing false positives, DNA can degrade, etc... Is there a specific finding you are referring to?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 2 Nov
Yes, a recent appellate court in the US has found that DNA analysis is not exact enough to be totally usable. As you mentioned, close relatives very likely have the same markers for the characteristics they are looking at. They cannot positively say, “That one person did this because we know him from his DNA.” More physical evidence is needed to corroborate the DNA evidence.
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