[lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Andreas's genetics q.
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 20:51:03 -0800
From a list member, sent offlist -- andreas
Genetic mapping is a pretty big term. For numbers on a
particular person, it's the HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) map,
which looks at a set of molecules (glycoproteins) that are
responsible for the way her immune system recognizes 'self' and
'non-self'. Since rejection is a real problem, the idea is to do
transplants that the recipient body will think of as 'self' and not
have an immune system reaction to. The numbers after the
letters are simply designations of which allele (variation) the
person has at a particular site on the gene, sort of like saying
"blue eyes, brown hair, freckles" only on the chromosome level
rather than the exterior, visible one.
Matching with someone means that you have a lot of the same
alleles as they do, thus making it more likely that your bone
marrow will grow in their bones without causing them to have
an immune reaction. Usually the doctors still give immune-
suppressing drugs because there are very few perfect matches.
As far as the actual numbers, each letter combo ( A, B, C,
DRB1) stands for a different locus. The 2 digit number after
'Molecular' part is the serologic equivalent of the antigen. The
next 2 digits signify her specific allele. If there is another
number following that, it identifies a further subtype.
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