Inductivist

 

A small percent of whites have an allele that is associated with hemochromatosis--a hereditary disorder in which iron salts are deposited in the tissues, leading to liver damage, diabetes mellitus, and bronze discoloration of the skin.  This polymorphism is completely absent in West African blacks.  This is the kind of difference race deniers tell us doesn't happen. 

In this new study, researchers estimated the European ancestry of African Americans using the frequency of this hemochromatosis allele. 

They found that, indeed, the frequency of the allele is 0.00000 in people from the Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. The frequency in white Americans was 0.060-0.067. For all black Americans it was 0.012.

The average white ancestry for black Americans was 0.180 for the whole sample, but it differed by city:

Proportion white ancestry

Rochester, NY   0.132

Birmingham, AL   0.146

Upper Savannah Region, SC   0.157

Portland, OR   0.161

San Diego, CA   0.175

Hartford, CT  0.178

District of Columbia   0.196

Oakland, CA   0.238

Irvine, CA   0.243

The proportion white of blacks living in Irvine is 1.8 times higher than for those living in Rochester, NY, so the variation is noteworthy. I don't see a clear regional pattern here. 

The authors report that their findings are consistent with studies using other methods. They also found both paternal and maternal contributions of white American ancestry in black Americans.

Methods

Results

Abstract

Introduction: In the U.S., asthma disproportionately affects urban minority populations, with Puerto Ricans showing the highest asthma prevalence 16.1%. However, what causes high asthma
prevalence among the Puerto Ricans is not very well understood. The varying proportions of African, European, and Native American genetic ancestry in Puerto Ricans can be leveraged to identify genetic determinants of clinically significant measures and outcomes such as lung function and asthma severity. We have previously demonstrated that genetic ancestry is associated with lung function.

Methods: In this current study, we sought to discover potential causal genes that may be associated with lung function in Puerto Rican islanders by applying admixture and fine mapping methods. A genome-wide admixture mapping study of lung function was conducted in 841 Puerto Rican children with and without asthma, who were recruited from Puerto Rico. After mapping admixture segments, we fine-mapped the genomic region using whole genome sequencing data. RNA-seq and eQTL mapping were used to elucidate underlying biologic links between genetic variants and lung function.

Results: The association test between local genetic ancestry and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) identified a strong admixture mapping peak on chromosome 1q32, indicating that each African ancestry allele was associated with a 0.13 liter decrease in the volume of exhaled air [95%CI: -0.08 to -0.18, p-value=4.90×10-8]. Three variants identified from the fine-mapping analysis were eQTL of TMEM9 gene in nasal epithelial cell. The minor allele of the variant associated with TMEM9 gene (rs10920079) tracked with African ancestry and was associated with significantly decreased lung function and TMEM9 gene expression. TMEM9 was inversely correlated with proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and IL-1β gene expressions.

Conclusion: The results from admixture mapping discovered variants that were associated with decreased lung function. Functional annotation and validation with RNA-seq and eQTL mapping indicate that these SNPs may be involved with regulating cytokine production, which may influence the lung function of Puerto Ricans.

You know a social problem becomes serious and legit when we discover--and only when we discover--that it is hitting blacks disproportionately. Brain cancer--not a major problem.  It hits whites worse.

Now that we see that WuFlu is bad in black communities, we get the same old lament about omnipresent anti-black racism. Heck, you'll see it on Fox about as much as anywhere. The American people can never hear enough that disease is colorblind... but we are not.

Let's see what actual scientific research has to say about one of the conditions putting you at risk of Covid-19, diabetes:

The risk of type 2 diabetes is twice as high for blacks as whites, even after adjusting for  socioeconomic status (SES). This suggests that genetic factors may help explain the racial gap.

The researchers in the linked study conducted an admixture analysis using 2,189 ancestry-informative markers in 7,021 African Americans. The group that was highest in African ancestry was 1.3 times more likely to have diabetes than the lowest ancestry group. This was true after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and SES.

Race is genetic, and it matters, people. But you'll never hear that on Fox.


(Hat tip to Greg Cochran on the article.)

Anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, especially HPV16, is the main cause of anal cancer. Anal sex increases the infection, and it is worsened by HIV-related immunosuppression.

Approximately 35,000 HPV-related anal cancers are diagnosed annually worldwide, including 17,000 among males. Anal cancer rates are increasing in several high-income countries, which might be due to changes in sexual behavior.

In the U.S., most of the increase among young males is due to human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infection.

Researchers recently conducted a meta-analysis of 79 studies with a total of almost 24,000 patients.

Among people who did not have HIV, rates of HPV16 was higher among men who have sex with men (MSM) (14%) than among men who have sex with woman (MSW) (3%).  The same was true for HIV-positive men -- 30% for MSMs versus 11% for MSWs.

So same-sex preferences and being HIV-positive are both strong predictors having HPV16 infection. The authors conclude that to prevent anal cancer, focus should be placed on gay men with HIV.

This new study looks at genetic differences in black and white women that affect immune system response. The top hit the researchers identified was a genotyped variant rs2814778, which is called the Duffy-null allele. 66% of black women carried the CC variant; 29% had the CT and 5% had the TT genotype. Compare this to white women: 100% of them have the TT genotype.

Now, the "experts" tell us race is not real. For example, they tell us that, say, whites differ among themselves much more than they differ from blacks. But look at this study: there is ZERO variation among whites, black women are fairly uniform too, and where they differ among themselves, it is due to having varied amounts of white ancestry.

It is widely thought that this geographic genetic diversity is the result of a strong positive selection for protection from malaria infection found in West Africa thousands of years ago. Blacks have faced different environments over tens of thousands of years, so what kind of researcher would claim that any genetic differences between blacks and other groups would be minimal or unimportant? Being able to survive malaria is pretty damn important, and the magnitude of the black-white difference in rs2814778 speaks for itself. The kind of researcher who would minimize and dismiss this is a dishonest researcher.

This new study examines US patterns of gonorrhea from 2000 to 2015. In 2015, there were almost 400,000 cases reported. Over the 16-year study period, there were 21 million cases. There are two distinct epidemics currently occurring in the US: one among young black heterosexuals, and one among men who have sex with other men (MSM). (Can we attach some meaning to the fact that MSM also stands for 'mainstream media'?)

Hispanics have an infection rate that is 1.8 times higher than among whites. For blacks, it's 9.6 times higher than for whites. Even though MSM's are a tiny sliver of American men, they account for 67% of all infections in males.

The authors claim that one's number of sex partners is an inadequate explanation for what we see. I'm sure there are other factors (e.g., differences in condom use), but gonorrhea rates have got to be an alternative to measuring sexual behavior with self-reports. Surveys don't indicate such enormous group differences, but the pattern of disease suggests that compared to straight white people, blacks and MSM's get around.

Glaucoma is a progressive condition caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form of glaucoma and is often associated with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP).

The additive heritability of POAG ranges from 24 to 42%. This new study analyzes data on 4,986 POAG cases and 58,426 controls from 4 race/ethnicity groups. The authors found 24 loci linked to POAG.

The authors found more than double the prevalence of POAG among African-Americans compared to whites--16.1% vs. 7.4%. (The prevalence for East Asians was 9.9%; for Hispanics, it was 7.9%). The figures below shows the relationship between genetic ancestry and POAG. 



Hold it--I thought, as Jonathan Marks instructs us, that race is a cultural and political phenomenon, not a biological one?