Genome-wide association studies misguides on cardiac arrhythmia risk gene

As per the latest study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation states that the University of Chicago have found SCN10A variants helps to control the function of a different gene, SCN5A, that appears to be the main gene for cardiac the arrhythmia risk. It has been found that SCN10A gene plays only limited role in the heart. The previous study by genome-wide association studies linked the DNA variants in the gene SCN10A and pointed it out for increased risk for cardiac arrhythmia. Further the hard work to determine the gene’s direct relation on the heart’s electrical went in vain. The lead scientists Ivan Moskowitz MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, pathology and human genetics at the University of Chicago explains, “Significant effort has been invested into understanding the function of SCN10A in cardiac rhythm control, with underwhelming results. It turns out that the genetic variation within SCN10A that confers arrhythmia risk actually functions on a different gene.”