Genetics of earwax determination

Dry earwax is found frequently amongst East Asians, while wet earwax is frequent Amongst individuals with African and European ancestry.

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[8] Genetics of earwax determination

DOI: 10.1038/ng1733

Evidence of the genetic basis that determines whether human earwax (cerumen)
is wet or dry, is published in the March issue of Nature Genetics. Dry
earwax is found frequently amongst East Asians, while wet earwax is frequent
amongst individuals with African and European ancestry.

Ko-ichiro Yoshiura and colleagues studied the gene association with
earwax type by examining Japanese individuals with either type of earwax.
Their results identified the gene ABCC11which encodes for a cell channel.
This channel controls the flow of molecules which directly alter earwax
type. Any mutation in the gene can change the structure of the channel,
reducing its activity and subsequently affecting the type of earwax
produced.

The authors compared this gene in individuals in 33 populations
world-wide. They suggest a change in the channel to have first occurred in
North-East Asia which has subsequently spread throughout Asia, as well as to
populations such as the Native Americans and Inuit with origins in Asia.
This study provides an interesting example of understanding the genetic
basis of normal human variation, not directly linked to a disease phenotype.

Author Contact:
Koh-ichiro Yoshiura (Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences, Nagasaki Japan)
Tel: +81 95 849 7120, E-mail: [email protected]

Other papers from Nature Genetics to be published online at the same time
and with the same embargo:

[9] Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin cause
ichthyosis vulgaris DOI: 10.1038/ng1743

[10] Mutations in myosin heavy chain 11 cause a syndrome associating
thoracic aortic aneurysm/aortic dissection and patent ductus arteriosus
DOI: 10.1038/ng1721

[11] Dominance relationships between self-incompatibility alleles controlled
by DNA methylation DOI: 10.1038/ng1734

Published: 29 Jan 2006

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