A team of researchers from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute reporting online in the Journal of Lipid Research has identified 4 genes in baboons that influence levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol.
The team screened a baboon colony of 1,500 animals to find three half-siblings with low levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), or ‘bad,’ cholesterol, and three half-siblings with high levels of LDL–a known risk factor for heart disease.
The team discovered that four genes named TENC1, ERBB3, ACVR1B, and DGKA, influence LDL levels. Interestingly, these four genes are part of a signaling pathway important for cell survival and disruption of this pathway promotes some types of cancer.
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Read the full story here: Scientists Identify Four Genes that Influence ‘Bad’ Cholesterol
