Abstract
Before the genomics technology revolution allowed us to do genome-wide science, genetics research relied on our limited knowledge about a subject to generate hypothesis and candidate genes to study. Despite the level of naiveté, several associations with susceptibility to a complex disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS) were discovered. Of these, HLA-DRB1 and IL7R1 stand out as being confirmed and refined early by the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that followed.2 Despite the expense and gargantuan efforts, these GWAS have successfully led to the discovery of more than 100 additional genes, albeit with smaller effect sizes, that contribute to MS susceptibility.3 This list keeps growing, but it comes with no surprise that most of these genes identified the immune system as one large candidate for MS susceptibility.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the editorial. Go to Neurology.org/ng for full disclosure forms. The Article Processing Charge for this editorial was waived at the discretion of the Editor.
- © 2016 American Academy of Neurology
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits downloading and sharing the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
NOTE: All contributors' disclosures must be entered and current in our database before comments can be posted. Enter and update disclosures at http://submit.ng.neurology.org. Exception: replies to comments concerning an article you originally authored do not require updated disclosures.
- Stay timely. Submit only on articles published within the last 8 weeks.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- 200 words maximum.
- 5 references maximum. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- 5 authors maximum. Exception: replies can include all original authors of the article.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.