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(Graphic) K. Franklin/Science
Those databases will illuminate studies of human variation worldwide, in part because the great genomic diversity in Africans can uncover spurious links to medical conditions, explains Concepcion Nierras, an NIH Common Fund geneticist. For example, in Europeans a rare variant of a gene for a low-density lipoprotein that contributes to high cholesterol seemed to raise the risk of heart disease. But Fatumo and his colleagues found that among Africans, the variant was common even in those who did not have heart disease, suggesting it may not have clinical relevance. The 
Nature paper uncovered 54 such variants that now need re-evaluation. ....

United States , Democratic Republic Of The Congo , University Of Cape Town , Western Cape , South Africa , University Of Botswana , South East , Baden Wuberg , United Kingdom , Abuja Federal Capital Territory , South African , Francis Collins , Lesedi Williams , Iiruka Okeke , Elizabeth Pennisi , Concepcion Nierras , Clement Adebamowo , Steven Salzberg , Ananyo Choudhury , Erisa Mwaka Sabakaki , Stefan Jansen , Segun Fatumo , Neil Hanchard , Richard Cooper , Tesfaye Mersha , Sarah Tishkoff ,