Sequencing human diversity

A team led by researchers at GlaxoSmithKline plc and the University of California, Los Angeles has amassed the most extensive catalog to date of sequence variation in genes that encode drug targets.¹ Unraveling how these variants influence drug response and disease susceptibility will require phenotypic studies in model systems.

Previously, the GSK team assembled a large database of single-nucleotide polymorphisms across the genomes of healthy individuals.^2,3 That work painted a picture of human genetic diversity, but the microarray technology used in the study was not suited for identifying functional differences in disease-related genes...