Japan and France to compare genes to fight diseases

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

TOKYO (AFP) — Researchers are preparing to compare genes of thousands of patients in Japan and France to better understand the racial dimensions of diseases in a bid to improve treatment, a scholar said.

Scientists hope to collect data from Japanese and white French patients suffering the same illnesses under the project between Japan's Kyoto University and France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM).

"There are diseases that are thought to be clinically the same, yet genetically different," said Fumihiko Matsuda, professor at the Center for Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University.

For example, some hepatitis patients respond well to treatments with interferon while others do not, suggesting that genetic differences affect their...