Our DNA determines not only who we are but holds the key to uncovering our true ancestral past. A plethora of information stored inside the genome reflects our uniqueness and proximity to different ancestral and modern-day populations. Given high correspondence between our genetic make-up and the geographical origin of our forefathers, it is possible to glean into precise ancestral origin using the genetic information. Understanding one’s ancestry is not only a ‘homing’ tool bringing someone closer to human evolutionary past but also holds the key in determining how population specific variability in disease susceptibility, drug responsiveness and other health and fitness related traits.
Understanding one’s ancestry can play a monumental role in understanding variation in disease susceptibility across various populations and gleaning into the complex gene, and environment interplay in ancestry specific disorders. For instance, cardiovascular diseases tend to manifest itself in distinct ways unique to the ancestry of the patient such that people with high African ancestry proportion tend to have strokes as a result of cardiovascular disease, while people of South Asian ancestry tend to have heart attacks. Traditional high fat and protein diets in cold regions of Siberia and North Asia have consequences on obesity and diabetes-related diseases. Further, it is well documented that sickle cell disease is more common in people of African, African American, or Mediterranean origin and Tay-Sachs disease is more common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish or French-Canadian ancestry. In the last few years, several research articles have shown population-specific variation in cancer types. Furthermore, COVID-19 has also been shown to have population and ancestry specific variation.
As a continuation of our previous Research Topic (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/15891/association-between-individuals-genomic-ancestry-and-variation-in-disease-susceptibility) here we strive to address similar questions in an attempt to better understand the association between individuals’ genetic ancestry and disease susceptibility. This understanding can facilitate the development of novel therapeutics or repurposing of existing treatment strategies, particularly aiding in identifying population-specific therapies. Subsequently, our knowledge of ancestry specific variation in complex disorders can be used towards developing personalized and ancestry-specific precision medicine approaches to ameliorate several complex disorders.
The contributors should consider the following themes for this Research Topic:
• Unravel predisposition of various modern-day populations towards common disorders and conditions, including but not limited to COVID-19, cancers, heart diseases and infectious diseases.
• Population and individual-specific variation in genetic disorders related to various cellular organelles.
• The association of alleles with complex disorders, evaluated at a population level, the discovery of novel disease marker panels.
• Identification of novel medically relevant genetic variants that can be used as diagnostic markers in genetic diagnostics and healthcare.
• Selection dynamics of various genes. Investigation of the spatial and temporal distributions of positively selected alleles in response to population-specific disease susceptibility.
We welcome the following article types: Original Research, Brief Research Report, Methods, Perspective, Review, Mini Review, and Systematic Review.
Our DNA determines not only who we are but holds the key to uncovering our true ancestral past. A plethora of information stored inside the genome reflects our uniqueness and proximity to different ancestral and modern-day populations. Given high correspondence between our genetic make-up and the geographical origin of our forefathers, it is possible to glean into precise ancestral origin using the genetic information. Understanding one’s ancestry is not only a ‘homing’ tool bringing someone closer to human evolutionary past but also holds the key in determining how population specific variability in disease susceptibility, drug responsiveness and other health and fitness related traits.
Understanding one’s ancestry can play a monumental role in understanding variation in disease susceptibility across various populations and gleaning into the complex gene, and environment interplay in ancestry specific disorders. For instance, cardiovascular diseases tend to manifest itself in distinct ways unique to the ancestry of the patient such that people with high African ancestry proportion tend to have strokes as a result of cardiovascular disease, while people of South Asian ancestry tend to have heart attacks. Traditional high fat and protein diets in cold regions of Siberia and North Asia have consequences on obesity and diabetes-related diseases. Further, it is well documented that sickle cell disease is more common in people of African, African American, or Mediterranean origin and Tay-Sachs disease is more common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish or French-Canadian ancestry. In the last few years, several research articles have shown population-specific variation in cancer types. Furthermore, COVID-19 has also been shown to have population and ancestry specific variation.
As a continuation of our previous Research Topic (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/15891/association-between-individuals-genomic-ancestry-and-variation-in-disease-susceptibility) here we strive to address similar questions in an attempt to better understand the association between individuals’ genetic ancestry and disease susceptibility. This understanding can facilitate the development of novel therapeutics or repurposing of existing treatment strategies, particularly aiding in identifying population-specific therapies. Subsequently, our knowledge of ancestry specific variation in complex disorders can be used towards developing personalized and ancestry-specific precision medicine approaches to ameliorate several complex disorders.
The contributors should consider the following themes for this Research Topic:
• Unravel predisposition of various modern-day populations towards common disorders and conditions, including but not limited to COVID-19, cancers, heart diseases and infectious diseases.
• Population and individual-specific variation in genetic disorders related to various cellular organelles.
• The association of alleles with complex disorders, evaluated at a population level, the discovery of novel disease marker panels.
• Identification of novel medically relevant genetic variants that can be used as diagnostic markers in genetic diagnostics and healthcare.
• Selection dynamics of various genes. Investigation of the spatial and temporal distributions of positively selected alleles in response to population-specific disease susceptibility.
We welcome the following article types: Original Research, Brief Research Report, Methods, Perspective, Review, Mini Review, and Systematic Review.