Top10 research advances include studies on genetics and stem cell resear...( Several new studies on genetics and ...),Health

Several new studies on genetics and stem cell research, along with studies that continue to debate the use of stents to clear coronary artery blockages are among the top research advances in heart disease and stroke for 2007, said Daniel W. Jones, M.D., president of the American Heart Association.

Other major milestones include a study that may change the way lives are saved using a new way to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The American Heart Association in 1996 began compiling an annual list of the top 10 major advances in heart disease and stroke research and continues to highlight influential research annually.

Achievements in 2007 include:

• 1. Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls

  Genome wide association studies identify genes (strands of DNA) which may cause specific diseases and represent a powerful approach in identifying genes involved in common human diseases. This large-scale genome-wide association (GWA) study found consistent and replicable genetic markers of several complex diseases of adulthood, including atherosclerotic heart disease. Study authors said their analysis of some 17,000 people for seven common familial diseases (bipolar disorder, coronary artery disease, Crohns disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes) confirms previously identified loci (DNA closely linked to genes that may identify a trait of a particular disease) and provides strong evidence for many novel disease susceptibility genes.
  Source: Nature, June 7, 2007; Nature 2007. 447:661-78; www.nature.com.
  Funding: Wellcome Trust was the principle funding source of this study.

• 2. Genomewide association analysis of coronary artery disease

  This study included a joint analysis of two genomewide association studies of coronary artery disease. Researchers used the genetic patterns o
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