Geneticists searching for genetic variants that raise the risk of colorectal cancer have found the first one to have an effect specific for a particular ethnic group. The mutation boosts the risk of colon cancer in Caucasians by 10%, but has no such effect in the Japanese population. The gene variant is the first known to boost the risk of colon cancer, the world's third most common form of cancer, in one population group but not in another, says Malcolm Dunlop of the University of Edinburgh. (source: nature.com)
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