Different Levels of Sensitivity in Children are Related To Differences in their Genomes

Alicia Yang

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150106203008.htm

Duke University, January 6, 2015

Different children have varying levels of sensitivity to their environments. The Duke University researchers have discovered a gene variant that may serve as a marker for children with high sensitivity. To arrive at this discovery, the researchers had to collect two decades worth of data on nearly 10,000 high-risk first-graders from North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Washington state who all came from high-risk backgrounds and also carried a common gene variant involved in the body's stress response, the glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1. If left untreated, 75% of carriers of this particular gene developed psychological problems by age 25, which includes alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and antisocial personality disorder. However, this the outcome for these children could change if they participated in an intensive program called the Fast Track Project. After this therapy and support, just 18% developed psychopathology as adults. This was the largest violence-prevention trial ever supported by the National Institutes of Health. This new study looks at the possible biology behind these results. However, there are still many unknowns that are yet to be resolved. For example, although children of all races were offered the Fast Track Project, the findings were limited to white children. The researchers have not yet found a similar genetic clue to help identify which of the children responded most positively to the project. Nonetheless, researchers say that these findings could be the first step toward personalized treatment for some of society's most troubled children. 


This article is relevant to what we learned about the human genome and how environment may affect the phenotype of a particular gene. These trials show how long it takes for a gene to be recognized because of how difficult and confusing the human genome is. As we learned, the Human Genome Project was accomplished very recently in 2001. At first, researchers thought that this discovery would solve all our problems and we would be able to cure diseases. However, as they soon found out, the genome was full of non-coding regions and genes are not as simple as we envisioned them to be. However, the deciphering of the human genome has helped us in many incidents and in this article, it highlights a success in which a gene variant was identified and is being solved for. We also learned that mutations and variants are one main cause of genetic variation. Another thing we learned is that a person's environment or experiences can also change that person.