-
Asked by jjnsarson to Anna, Chris, Jane, Iain, Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
-
Iain Moal answered on 11 Mar 2014:
This is a great question. There are many reasons why people react differently to diseases. Some of these are environmental, which means they have different diets or are exposed to different things. Others are genetic, which means that their reaction to diseases was determined before they were born and it is just a part of who they are. Actually, there is a lot of research into why certain people are susceptible to certain diseases going on where Nick works.
-
-
Anna Middleton answered on 12 Mar 2014:
Hi @jjnsarson
I work in the same place as Nick (well in different buildings!) Yes, there is a lot of work being done at the moment on the changes that people have in their genes. These changes can mean that some people don’t deal with diseases very well and others are barely affected. There is something in the genes protecting them. Once scientists work out what this is they can then work on treatments, preventions and cures. -
Jane Charlesworth answered on 19 Mar 2014:
People react to diseases in different ways for a number of reasons. Environmental factors like nutrition or whether people get enough sleep or are exposed to chemicals or stress can be one. Our genes can also cause us to react differently to disease–we have different immune system genes which allow us to fight off different bugs. Some people believe that we choose our partners so our future children will get the best combination of immune system genes–apparently people’s smell is influenced by which immune system genes they have. In the past, some populations were exposed to some diseases more than others and this is still reflected in our genes. African people have some genetic variants that protect them against malaria, which is a common disease in African countries, for example.
The genes of the bugs attacking us also matter. Individual bacteria within the same species can differ in how nasty they are. Right now my lab are working to try and find genes in the bacteria that influence how infectious they are and other people are trying to find genes in humans that make different people react differently to infection. So this is a very complicated topic.
Comments