Most detailed human genetic map created

JACKSON, Miss., July 20 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say a genetic map of African-Americans, the most detailed one of its kind, will be helpful in the study of diseases and of human evolution.

University of Mississippi Medical Center researchers joined with U.S. and British colleagues to study genetic information of 30,000 African-Americans to create the map, a center release said Wednesday.

The map pinpoints genome locations where DNA from a person's mother and father are spliced together to produce sperm or eggs.

The process, known as recombination, mixes DNA from the person's parents and passes it on to his or her children.

"The map will be helpful in finding the genetic roots of any disease that's affected by inheritance -- which is virtually every disease," said study coordinator James Wilson, UMMC professor of medicine.

Almost every prior genetic map was developed in people of European ancestry. The new map is the first taken from African-Americans, the UMMC release said.

"The world's best genetic map is now built in African-Americans," said David Reich, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.

The findings are expected to help researchers understand the roots of congenital conditions that occur more often in African-Americans than in others, and also to help discover new disease genes in all populations because of the ability to map these genes more precisely.